{"product_id":"whatever-9781846687846","title":"Whatever","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Houellebecq captures precisely the cynical disillusionment of disaffected youth.\"--\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This boy needs serious therapy. He may be beyond help.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJust thirty, with a well-paid job, depression and no love life, the narrator and anti-hero par excellence of this grim, funny, and clever novel smokes four packs of cigarettes a day and writes weird animal stories in his spare time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA painfully realistic portrayal of the vanishing freedom of a world governed by science and by the empty rituals of daily life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichel Houellebecq\u003c\/b\u003e is a multi-award-winning French author. He currently lives in Spain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNovelist and poet Michel Houellebecq was born in 1958, on the French island of Reunion. At the age of six, Michel was given over to the care of his paternal grandmother, a communist, whose family name he later adopted. His literary career began when, at twenty, he started to move in poetic circles in France. \u003ci\u003eWhatever\u003c\/i\u003e, Houellebecq's first novel, has been translated into several languages. Houellebecq's second collection of poems, \u003ci\u003eLe sens du combat\u003c\/i\u003e (\u003ci\u003eThe Meaning of the Fight\u003c\/i\u003e), obtained the Prix Flore in 1996. In 1998, he received the prestigious Grand Prix National des Lettres Jeunes Talents for his literary work. He has also won the Prix Novembre (for \u003ci\u003eThe Elementary Particles \u003c\/i\u003e). His first album, \u003ci\u003ePresence humaine\u003c\/i\u003e, was released in 2000. He currently lives in Ireland.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Serpent's Tail","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50645644149010,"sku":"9781846687846","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_78dd75b5-ec6a-460c-8c1c-772672c7e1fe.jpg?v=1733157822","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/whatever-9781846687846","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}