I've always been an avid Houellebecq fan, ever since I picked up the Elementary Particles (Atomised in the US). His best works IMHO, Atomised and Platform dealt with the disintegration of the family unit in the name of individualism in the West, sexual frustration and economics.
Also, thrown in the mix were criticisms of Islam, pompous socialists and John Grisham. I did however, not share the author's blatant fascination with silicon breasts. I guess it's easy to favor only the natural look when you're young and never strayed far from 20-something year old breasts.

Anyways, getting back to the review, it seems ever since these two books Houellebecq has been searching for a new subject.

So we had "The Possibly of an Island", which somewhat rehashed Platform but with a focus on weird cults and cloning.

And now we had the much talked "The Map and the Territory", winner of the "Prix Goncourt", which I guess is a big deal in France.
Anyways, the book tells the story of a young artist who falls on hard times but then... His latest gallery attracts the attention of the Michelin Guide and money flows. He meets a hot Russian television presenter and so on. Eventually the book evolves into a police mystery, though I felt the resolution was a bit of a letdown.
The book is filled with interesting minutia about late night supermarkets in Paris, dogs and architecture. Though I must say, never having been to Paris, not being knowledgeable in architecture and not knowing french, I felt like I was missing out on many tidbits. The book does drone on about the philosophy of certain architecture types, since both the protagonist and his father have a common interest in the subject and it serves as a bonding mechanism.

As a side note, this book is very mild on the porn front, not one mention of a silicon implant that I can recall.

All in all, this is not his best work but still better than most stuff out there. I give it a solid 8 out of 10 cigars.