Michel Houellebecq's novel "Submission" depicts France under Islam

THE NEW YORK TIMES

By Rachel Donadio

Michel Houellebecq often seems to be playing a parody of himself. Credit Philippe Matsas/Flammarion

FRANCE---Michel Houellebecq was seated with his legs crossed in a chair in his publishers’ office here, chain-smoking and flicking away criticism that his latest novel, “Submission,” is Islamophobic, or at least critical of Islam. “Submission,” which is set in 2022 and imagines France under its first Muslim president, was published in France on Jan. 7, the day jihadists killed 12 people at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, whose cover that week featured Mr. Houellebecq (pronounced WELL-beck) in a magician’s hat, as if predicting the future. [link]