Houellebcq Not Guilty of Blasphemy
France uncharacteristically missed an opportunity to demonstrate its foolishness today, acquitting author Michel Houellebeqc of "defamation" charges in a suit brought by various Islamic groups in response to negative comments he made in an interview last fall. It probably didn't hurt that the attack on a resort in Bali by Islamic extremists during the period when the court was deliberating the case closely resembled an incident described in Houellebecq's latest novel, Platform, published last summer. The notoriety of the case, combined with the inherent quality and relevance of Houellebecq's writing, is certain to drive him to greater heights of success and endear him even less, if such is possible, to the mandarins of French literary culture.
5:19:44 PM 
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