In France, tout le monde thinks this is an ''important'' novel, so it goes without saying that it's deeply bleak and highly chic. It's a coldhearted allegory of social decay and the sexual revolution that tells the story of depressed hedonist Bruno and numb scientist Michel, two half brothers who share traumatic childhoods, traumatic adolescences, and just-plain-meaningless adult lives. The first paragraph informs us that such feelings as ''love, tenderness and human fellowship had, for the most part, disappeared'' by 1958. If you're inclined to buy into Houellebecq's clinical nihilism, then you're probably better off spending the 25 bucks on prescription medication. B-
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