Working from the 1960s on, the French writer, artist and illustrator Roland Topor (1938-97) was an all-round maverick known for his paintings and drawings as much as for his novels (such as The Tenant, filmed by Roman Polanski), plays and short stories, all dominated by a sense of irrational, everyday menace. He was also a filmmaker, actor (appearing as Renfield in Herzog's Nosferatu) and the cofounder, with Arrabal and Jodorowsky,...