"A delicious exercise in satire and self-parody... His best ever" (Daily Telegraph) "The outlaw of French letters returns with an acerbic riff on art and celebrity... witty, wildly erudite" (The Times) "A dark master of invention... From the very first paragraph of this brilliant novel, the reader can be in no doubt that they're in the blisteringly bleak, darkly inventive grand massif that is Houellebeqc land" (Evening Standard) "This book, so beautifully written, so inspiriting for all its pessimism, is the new novel I have loved best this year. We have not his equal" (David Sexton Spectator) "Impressive... Beguiling... He is a true original" (Observer)