A review by krismichaud
The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq

5.0

Houellebecq's most accessible, human, and valuable contribution... and it's hilariously funny! The Map and the Territory reads, at various times, like an art world satire, a detective novel, and a political essay, subverting narrative expectations along the order of No Country for Old Men while giving us an engrossing story and a pair of noble (by Houellebecq's standards...) protagonists. The author inserts himself into the narrative with the radical honesty, self-awareness and sense of fun usually missing from novels employing the device (ahem, Paul Auster). If you enjoyed The Elementary Particles but found The Possibility of an Island a bore, this one is a treat. A brilliant return to form.