Focuses on the current state of French literature and the annual book publishing event known as the French rentrée. The French rentrée in September beckons not only children back to the classroom but also book-lovers to the bookshops. This month, 633 titles will be published in French, in a ritual known as la rentrée littéraire, a publishing blitz that the reading public finds increasingly bewildering. This year's list is double the length of that six years ago, and many titles end up unsold in the stockroom. Some hard questions are now being raised. How many of these novels are really worth reading? And why are so few of these authors known outside France? Much of this season's crop has the regulation French mix of philosophy and bleak chic. But, a few exceptions aside, why are there not more arresting literary voices coming out of France today? Even the French bestseller lists are peppered with American or British names. The harsh answer, argues Richard Millet, a novelist and editor, in his recent book, "Harcèlement Littéraire", a devastating assault on the contemporary French novel, is that "French literature has become a desert." Few others would go so far, but some acknowledge a problem. "French literature as a dominating force no longer exists," concedes Susanna Lea, a Paris literary agent, "but it is more a wasteland than a desert: individual voices have emerged."