One myth is that he was a misanthrope, a grumbling recluse, whose work was as morose as his life.

ECONOMIST: Singular visions

In the meantime, I was a misanthrope and avoided public events.

FORBES: We're Not Exactly "Friends"

Michel Houellebecq, a 40-year-old ex-Marxist, was hailed in some quarters as a scourge of the 1968ers and damned in others as an anti-liberal misanthrope.

ECONOMIST: France��s literary sensation