Michel Houellebecq's first book from 1991 went almost unnoticed in the French public eye - unjustly so. In it, he engages with the American forefather of fantastic literature: H. P. Lovecraft. Houellebecq examines him as a novelist of visionary power, but also as a human being. Even in this almost novelistic biography, Houellebecq develops the foundational pillars of a poetics that will be crucial for his later work. This book is a key to the literary creation of the most important contemporary French author. "This man, who has not succeeded in living, has ultimately succeeded in writing." "Against the world, against life. H. P. Lovecraft" - a small gem from a gifted essayist. The first book by the cult author Michel Houellebecq: a literary manifesto.