John Banville at Bookforum on Lovecraft and Houellebecq. He asks the question:
Who is Howard Phillips Lovecraft—whom Stephen King, in a lively introduction to Houellebecq’s essay, describes as the “Dark Prince of Providence” (Providence, Rhode Island, that is; not the Lord who rules over us all)—and what has he to tell us about the work of Houellebecq?