French 'bad boy' in plagiarism row | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

Sexist, obscene, racist were the accusations thrown at Michel Houellebecq over his previous novels. Now it's plagiarism, after France's best-known living writer allegedly cut and pasted chunks of Wikipedia into his new book.

"La carte et le territoire'' (The Map and the Territory) has just hit the bookshops in time for France's frenzied autumn publishing season and is a favourite to win the prestigious Goncourt literary prize in November.

The eagerly awaited book gleefully satirises the Paris art world, and even takes a swipe at a drunken, stinking, badly-dressed writer who goes by the name of Michel Houellebecq.