In France, upon the release of the poems, there were speculations about whether this was the swan song of the country's most-read, yet also most controversial author. However, although these poems touch on the final matters of life, they primarily mark Michel Houellebecq's furious return after his three-year absence, following his Prix Goncourt-winning bestseller 'Map and Territory'. Michel Houellebecq, who here presents himself at times sober and composed, and at other times almost tender and vulnerable, is in no way inferior to his declared role models, Mallarmé and Baudelaire. 'Form of the Last Shore' is the uncompromising poetic self-exposure of a radical outsider who has nothing left to lose. The simple language strikes directly at the heart of the truth. We have never been so close to Houellebecq.