Houellebecq slipped into the French literary world sometime in the early 90s fairly invisibly. He'd been a civil servant in his day life and a sometime poet. He became a founding member of the literary journal Perpendiculaire with a bunch of leftwing intellectuals, and very likely they took it for granted that he shared their liberal assumptions. His first book, Whatever, a nihilistic satire on the weaknesses and unfairness of a sexually liberal society, caused a minor furore and became a cult book, later made into a very good film. What did they think? That this is just Michel with his insecurity and his frustration. Whatever. They certainly didn't see Atomised coming. Following its publication, they expelled him from the board of Perpendiculaire for the crimes of reaction and misogyny - in other words, for political nonconformity. Far from seeking reconciliation, Houellebecq said he hoped for their imminent collapse. Which is what Atomised is all about - the inherent contradictions and failures of liberalism.
"Drunk at the matinee" is a collection of candid poetry about stupid shit that we all experience from day to day.
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