Book Review: "Head-to-Toe Portrait of Suzanne" by Roland Topor; Translated by Andrew Hodgson (Atlas Press)

ISBN: 978-0-9931487-5-0

Roland Topor is very much like my beloved Boris Vian, in that he's mentioned, and thought of, but still a mystery figure, especially to the English reading world.   I know of Topor's work as a visual artist/illustrator, but I also read his novel 'The Tenant" which was later made into a terrific film by Roman Polanski.  Topor's literature/illustrations are a combination of absurdity and physical/psychological dread.  Writing-wise, he reminds me a bit of Kafka, but even more focused on being uncomfortable in social settings.  There are toilet anxieties, as well as sexual fear, or the feeling of being exposed to the public.  It reminds me of my dreams when I walk into a school room full of people or classmates, but I forgot to put pants on and hoping no one will notice my nudity. 

"Head-to-Toe Portrait of Suzanne" is a novella focusing on the dread or the feeling of not being worthy in a world that is harsh and borderline logical in its treatment of the oddities of humans.  This fable-like narrative is about a fat man whose left foot is his lover, or perhaps what he thinks of his diseased foot as - a broken relationship with a woman.   Topor is an incredible presence in 20th-century European literature and fiction.  Another childhood figure who was on the run from the Nazis, and that experience, of course, is tattooed in his existence.  Like Georges Perec and Serge Gainsbourg, the experience of being alienated in Occupied France is a horror show, and all three artists/writers express that dread.  "Head-to-Toe Portrait of Suzanne" is a remarkable little book. 

- Tosh Berman