The Possibility of an Island Book

A worldwide phenomenon and the most famous French novelist since Camus, Michel Houellebecq now delivers his magnum opusâ??a tale of our present circumstances told from the future, when humanity as we know it has vanished.Having made a fortune producing comedies that skewer mankindâ??s consumerism, religious fundamentalism, sexual profligacy, and other affronts, Daniel is forty before he falls prey to the human condition himself: his belovedâ??s body sags with age, their marriage dissolves, and true happiness seems a luxury reserved for their dog, Fox. After the colossal failure of his second great love affair, he joins a cult of health fanatics determined to produce a misery-free eternal lifeâ??manifested here in the voices of Danielâ??s subsequent clones, who enjoy the umpteenth Foxâ??s companionship but shun the bands of fugitive â??humansâ? on the horizon. Their commentary on Danielâ??s fate, and on the race as a whole, illuminates the basic tenets of our existenceâ??laughter, tears, love, remorseâ??and their nostalgia for such emotions, all of which have long since disappeared.Laugh-out-loud funny, philosophically compelling, and flatly heartbreaking, The Possibility of an Island is at once an indictment, an elegy, and a celebration of everything we have and are at risk of losing.Read More