Michel Houellebecq, the most acclaimed French writer today, was recently asked whether he was Islamophobic. “Probably, yes,” he replied. The question was kind of silly, anyway, for he just published a book in which France is ruled by Islamists. He now lives under police protection. But the news is accompanied by a photograph of the writer. Born in 1956, he looks outright frightening. Nay, alarming. Having unfortunately read a book of his, too, I can now declare myself Houellebecqophobic. And no kidding. Intellectuals like him spell the end of an era, as well as of themselves. Houellebecqophobia is the only way forward.