Houellebecq is the new "bad boy" of French literature. In the style of Robbe-Grillet - distant narrator, explicit sex. This is more of a long short story, or at most a novella. But he packs a lot into the few pages he uses. His narrator can be amusing, but not sure I would want to spend any time with him. Like the interview with the travel agent, where he speaks his mind while keeping his thought process to himself - so he blurts out, "I don't want to f*ck," apropos nothing that is being said between them. I might read some of his other books.