Houellebecq Wins Goncourt, Top French Literary Award
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Michel Houellebecq won France’s most prestigious literary prize, the 107-year-old Prix Goncourt, for “La Carte et le Territoire,” in which an artist encounters a famous novelist named Houellebecq and helps a police inspector solve a vicious crime.
The winner -- who gets a check for a symbolic 10 euros ($14) and an almost certain boost in sales -- was announced to a crowd of journalists at Paris restaurant Drouant. The 10-member jury, which meets at the establishment once a month, then retreated inside for its customary gastronomic lunch.