Michel Houellebecq's Mommie

There is an extremely nasty portrait of mother's character on Houellebecq's The Elementary Particles (Atomised in British translation). Now his real life mom has come back with her own book about him. Very entertaining report in The Times - Michel Houellebecq in the mother of all book battles:

France's most celebrated and controversial contemporary author could be pushed off his pinnacle following an astonishingly vitriolic attack from a critic with a unique insight into his oeuvre.

She is his mother - and she is threatening to knock his teeth out with her walking stick if he mentions her again in one of his works.

In a book of her own to be published next week, Lucie Ceccaldi depicts the cult writer as an untalented social climber whose ego is only matched by his dishonesty.

“What are these novels where nothing ever happens?” she says.

“This individual, who alas! came out of my tummy, is a liar, an impostor, a parasite and especially, especially, a little upstart ready to do anything for fortune and fame,” Mrs Ceccaldi, 83, writes in L'Innocente, an autobiography.

Also see, Revenge of hippy mum on enfant terrible in The Guardian. Links via complete review.