Product Description

"[Thorne Smith] created the modern American ghost. A ghost with style and wit. A ghost that haunts us still."
--The New York Times

Thorne Smith is a master of urbane wit and sophisticated repartee. Topper, his best-known work, is the hilarious, ribald comedy on which the hit television show and movie (starring Cary Grant) were based.

It all begins when Cosmo Topper, a law-abiding, mild-mannered bank manager, decides to buy a secondhand car, only to find it haunted by the ghosts of its previous owners--the reckless, feckless, frivolous couple who met their untimely demise when the car careened into an oak tree. The ghosts, George and Marion Kerby, make it their mission to rescue Topper from the drab "summer of suburban Sundays" that is his life--and they commence a series of madcap adventures that leave Topper, and anyone else who crosses their path, in a whirlwind of discomfiture and delight.

As enchanting today as it was when first published in 1926, Topper has set the standard in American pop culture for such mischievous apparitions as those seen in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Heaven Can Wait, Beetlejuice, and Bewitched.

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Customer Reviews (18)

Not as good as others
I started reading Thorne Smith with The Stray Lamb, which was very enjoyable.I was dissapointed with Topper.It just wasn't as funny.

Tops for Topper
While walking through a room where Turner Channel Movies was on, I caught the beginning of the 1937 movie, Topper. I didn't get to see it all but vaguely remembered it and the TV version so I decided to order the book. I could picture that old black-and-white movie while reading and hear the voices of Cary Grant, Billie Burke, and Constance Bennett.

Poor stuffed-shirt Cosmo needs a break from his humdrum life and wife. The break comes when he buys a car involved in a wreck and the resulting death of a fast-living couple, the Kerbys. When George and Marion Kerby appear to Cosmo as ghosts, they go along with him for a wild summer adventure that changes his outlook on life, inspiring him to live life to its fullest and break out of the rut his life has become.

This was a refreshing, madcap adventure. You can almost see the old movies of the 20s and 30s as you read it.

Entertaining and pioneering book
Topper is a fun story with several interesting sides.First and foremost, it has been credited with "inventing" the American Ghost.The book deserves a great deal of credit for this alone.

It is also the story of a man in what we might refer to as "midlife crises" today.Bored with his respectable existence, he has fun and takes solace in a holiday outside of his behavioral norms.He has middle aged man thoughts- about his wife and a younger attractive ghost woman, that are realistic (to the extent of the propriety of the author) and enlightening.A true triumph of the work, however, is that it does this without becoming so maudlin that it is suitable for an English class.

Finally, it is a comedic book, that is entertaining and worth reading.

I recommend this book, but the reader needs to be prepared to judge it in the context of its day- and from that perspective it is truly remarkable.

better than the TV show
and i very liked the show too !!.i remember seeing this book in the private collection of a professor at the university i worked at.so i took it home without his knowledge and read it.it was a very good read.light hearted but with a pleasant sadness.

Great escapist fare from the jazz age
Having never heard of the movie, my initial attraction to this book was actually the cover art.Though there really isn't a date given, I pictured it perhaps in the early 1920's, though the depiction of the automobile as some kind of strange novelty probably sets it in the early 1910's.

Perhaps it's a reflection on myself, but I enjoy stories about ordinary people who are stuck in a rut or who have lived their lives having never followed their dreams and who are given one last chance to shine.

The characters and antics are outrageous, yet likable in a strange way.And the story reads pretty quickly.

While reading this book, I pictured elements of the 20's, 50's, and 80's.In fact, I think they should re-make a movie of this book and set it in a "timeless" setting.

Overall, if you're not prejudiced against reading a book written in the 1920's, I'd recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
James Thorne Smith Jr. (1892-1934), was an American writer of humorous supernaturnal fantasy fiction. Best known today for his creation of Topper, Smith's comic fantasy fiction (most of it involving sex, lots of drinking, and supernatural transformations, and aided by racy illustrations) sold millions of copies in the early 1930s. Smith drank as steadily as his characters; his appearance in James Thurber's The Years With Ross involves an unexplained week-long disappearance. Smith was born in Annapolis, Maryland the son of a Navy commodore, attended Dartmouth College, and after hungry years in Greenwich Village working part-time as an advertising agent, Smith achieved meteoric success with the publication of Topper in 1926. His other works include: The Stray Lamb (1929), Turnabout (1931), The Night Life of the Gods (1931), Topper Takes a Trip (1932), The Bishop's Jaegers (1932), Rain in the Doorway (1933), Skin and Bones (1933) and The Glorious Pool (1934). He died of a heart attack while vacationing in Florida. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Review of "The Stray Lamb"
Mr. T. Lawrence Lamb had a wife, a daughter, and a commutation ticket.He worked hard, looked at women on trains and did nothing about it, suffered his wife to play about platonically (he thought) with a Mr. Leonard Gray, who was interested in amateur theatricals.Mr. Lamb was, in a word, the Great American Commuter. That was before he met the russett man in the woods, and woke up one morning to find himself a handsome balck stallion, practically free from his wife and the world.It interfered with his business and social life, but Mr. Lamb didn't particularly mind that - and there were compensations.After that Mr. Lamb became in succession a good many different kinds of creature, all of which helped to give him a new viewpoint on the world - as for instance: a sea-gull, watching the beautiful Sandra in her less public moments. "The Stray Lamb" is a hilarious book, a gay, ribald, knowing book, with a deep strain of wisdom and humanity flowing beneath the brilliance of the story. ... Read more

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CONTENTS:

Customer Reviews (16)

One of the Greats
I first read Thorne Smith about 40 yars ago.While some are obviously better than others, ALL contain exceptional wit and humor.This is one of my favorites.

You Get What You Pay For
Kindle for iPhone Formatting Issue

I dnloaded this title to my iPhone using WhisperSync and started to read it. Unfortunately, there are large chunks of text missing, some pages are more than half-way blank and, the Table of Contents is grayed out on the Menu (though if I page forward to the TOC, I can jump to the designated chapter.)

The convenience of dnloading an out-of-print title very quickly and at little cost wasoffset by not being able to read the book and now having to go buy a second hand-copy of the book.

Stays funny forever
This has always been my favourite of this author's works.Even as a child, when I didn't understand some of the action, I howled helplessly.I learned not to read this one in public.For me, it stays very, very funny.

hilarious story, downbeat ending
NIGHT LIFE OF THE GODS is a novel of moments, but the moments are priceless.For example, when the armless statue of Venus comes to life, her drapery, frozen in stone before, now slides to her feet.And the scene in which Neptune visits the Fulton Fish Market is alone worth the price of the book.NIGHT LIFE OF THE GODS is one of the most original comic novels I have ever read, and I recommend it to those lucky people who are able to procure a copy!

One of my all time favorite books
Didn't discover Thorne Smith until I was an adult. In case you haven't recognized the name, Smith is responsible for the Topper series of books, among many others - although he didn't live long enough to see the success of his works in movies and TV. It is a goldie-oldie where we discover Hunter Hawk, a brilliant scientist who likes to experiment - he can turnpeople into statues! On his jaunts out of his estate, he meets the lovely Mageara, a 900 year old witch with who has (among other things) the power to turn statues into flesh and blood! They hook up and the main thrust of the plot is they go to the Metropolitan Museum and turn famous mythological statues to life. Things never would be the same in New York after that! Hawk and Magaera must be reponsible for the care, feeding (mostly drinking!), housing and behavior of these gods and goddess - mayhem abounds!
The supporting characters, mainly Mageara's father and Hawk's butler are also delights.
Smith's dialog is rapid-fire and laugh out loud great. It does have some terms that were current in the 20's/30's, but it is a great read. This book means a lot to me.
It is a once in a lifetime book that captured my imagination and it is worth getting - Worth getting used with Amazon, or in used book stores - maybe bookstores have the reissued paperbacks. ... Read more

Product Description

CONTENTS:

Product Description
From one of America’s most beloved television actresses: A sharply observed, comedic novel about the flipside of fame—and a fresh take on Hollywood in all its outrageous, entertaining glory.

On the outside, Kate Keyes-Morgan seems to have it all: a starring role on the hit television series Generations, a handsome husband who is also her manager, a stick-thin figure, and a career that, after a Kirstie Alley-style slide, is finally back on track. At the age of thirty, Kate knows what it’s like to have the tabloids turn on you, and she never wants it to happen again. Thank goodness her husband, Hamilton, is there to manage her every move—even if the strict dieting and morning weigh-ins are becoming more than she can manage.

But when Hamilton leaves her for another actress on Generations, the ruthless diva Sapphire Rose, Kate suddenly finds herself in charge of her own life. Now she must decide whether she’s ready to stop playing by the Hollywood rulebook and discover who she really is. With the help of her wise-cracking friend and tough-love hairstylist, Paige, and Michael, a high-powered film agent who secretly dreams of becoming a novelist, Kate begins to question her role in an industry that venerates appearance, money, and fame above all else, and that applies ceaseless pressure on women to always be thinner, younger, and more beautiful, at any cost.

From high fashion to on-set antics to the real-life whispers about celebrities that even the tabloids never tell, Courtney Thorne-Smith depicts the entertainment world as only an insider can. Yet beneath the glamorous facade lies a natural-born writer with a gift for comic timing and shaping memorable characters. If you’ve ever wanted to experience life in the spotlight or wondered what goes on behind dressing room doors, Outside In is your invitation into the glittering world of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Terribly written
I'm giving this 2 stars because it did amuse me, but is so terribly written I considered giving up on it several times.Way too much annoying banter between the characters and too many cliches and colloquialisms.I found myself rolling my eyes frequently and was overall just annoyed by this book, despite the somewhat-interesting storyline.Courtney, don't quit your day job!

Fair
The first chapter of this book caught my interest.I read it morbid fascination - feeling deeply sorry for the main character and hating the "perfect" husband who basically tells his own wife that she is "getting fat" and "haven't we talked about this already".

Yeah, I know its all set in Hollywood and I guess these types of conversation are normal - but boy did I hate that guy!He sounded wayyyy to pompous and obviously thought of himself as perfect.

Author Thorne-Smith does a good job of showing the sleezy, morally bankrupt side of Hollywood - I assume she must know of what she speaks since she probably is stuck living these types of nightmares every day.

Although I like to read an "insider look" at Hollywood, for some reason, this book started to grate on me after a while.I felt as though every women in the book was put down and that because its Hollywood it was somehow acceptable.

Also, the printing in my book was soooo tiny, I was pulling my eyes out trying to read this book.

Although I wanted to really adore this "dishy" book, all I can say about it is that its a fair read.

1st in a series or unanswered questions?
If this is the first in a series, I wish we'd been told.Otherwise, we're left w/ burning, unanswered questions.Did Michael finish his script and was it used in the Vivian Leigh movie?Did he still get a commission for Sapphire's involvement in it?Does Kate still keep her soon-to-be ex-husband on as a manager?(If so, the logic of that is teetering on nonexistent.)I was SO disappointed that her husband's reaction to Kate owning half of his business wasn't addressed.His reaction probably would have been the high point of the book. We kept hoping he'd get his due but were denied that pleasure.

It was very difficult to read (for those of us who don't understand the abused wife/daughter who continues to stick it out). I kept screaming for Kate to grow a backbone already.

One of the previous reviewers summed it up nicely in pointing out that Ms. Thorne-Smith is obviously a neophyte in the writing genre.Her constant use of `that' when unnecessary and her refusal to use contractions are dead giveaways.Her editor should work a little harder for his/her salary.

Not too shabby.
I was pleasantly surprised at Thorne Smith's writing. You just never know what to expect when an actor moves into the writing field (just like when a model says she wants to act... most of the time it's a big "Oh no!")

The story of hot starlet Katie and how her world turns upside down when her emotionally abusive and controlling husband dumps her is not deep or meaningful, but it is a pleasant diversion. The author obviously knows of whence she speaks, dropping names and tart commentary with equal aplomb.

The story follows a predictable path with Katie rising above her circumstances and ending up better off than with her jerk of a husband. She gets a new man, a new job, and a new friend in the bargain -- not too bad!

The biggest complaints I have are that the dialog seems a tad too contrived, with the banter too self-conscious. And I really wanted to see the philandering couple get theirs in the end, NOT get a plum movie role.

All in all, though, you could do a lot worse than Outside In.

Humor ... the book has humor
The book has a cover - it has pages - the pages are even numbered. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

From another time and place
Thorne Smith had his day in the sun but it was many moons ago. This trilogy of his tales is pretty much representative of his kind of risque works that found a wide audience in the early part of the 20th century. He loved to write about the upper crust of polite society and show their true ribald side. I think today's readers will require something more than Smith has to offer but at a time when television was yet a dream and milk was still delivered to one's door-step, he was the cat's meow. ... Read more

Product Description
Thorne Smith is a unique figure in American literature, one who thrived during prohibition, creating comic novels that ridiculed the morality of the times and involved extensive drinking, nudity, frivolity, and general debauchery. A Man Named Smith: The Novels and Screen Legacy of Thorne Smith is the first book-length study of Thorne Smith's work. It provides background information on his life and early death, discusses all of his novels in detail and also provides extensive new documentation on their screen adaptations, including Topper, Night Life of the Gods and Turnabout. Also discussed is Thorne Smith's brief time in Hollywood at MGM in 1933, and the influence that his books have had on late films and television productions.As an added bonus, reprinted here in its entirety is the 1934 promotional monograph, Thorne Smith: His Life and Times with a Note on His Books & a Complete Bibliography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Life and Career of the King of Supernatural Comedy
Thorne Smith has to be the most influential "forgotten" author of the 20th century.He virtually created the supernatural comedy/romance genre which has been popular on film (and later, television) ever since his first best sellers, yet he seldom receives the credit due him.Best known for his novel TOPPER, Smith also wrote TURNABOUT, THE NIGHT LIFE OF THE GODS, and the unfinished novel that became the basis for the film I MARRIED A WITCH.Given the supernatural, often post-life themes of much of his work, it's tragically ironic Smith did not live to see most of the glory of his career, passing away at age 42 of a sudden heart attack in 1934, years before popular adaptions of his novels and his stunningly successful run as a best-selling novelist which lasted into the 1940's and paperback sales going strong into the 1960's, thanks in part to racy artwork covers by Herbert Roese, longtime illustrator for the Thorne books which surely influenced later Playboy cartoons with their outrageously sexy and scantily dressed heroines on the cover.The novels themselves are loaded with what Slide accurately describes as "cheerful bawdiness", be it nudist colonies, sex-changed spouses, suggested wife-swapping, or "phallic low humor", all the while being represented in perfectly respectable types with a highball glass almost always at hand.

A MAN NAMED SMITH is a most welcome career study of this unheralded author by film historian Anthony Slide. Information on this long-dead author has always been elusive in recent decades (I was amused by Slide's mention of the difficulty of finding data on him on the net without pulling up info on Melrose Place star Courtney Thorne-Smith, something I'm well acquainted with) but Slide has done an excellent job in under 200 pages of bringing Smith's full career in focus, with information on his personal life and commentary on his novels and the film adaptions.There are several photographs, although regrettably only a couple of Smith himself (tough to find these days, undoubtably).Slide quotes a number of Smith's best passages, loaded with innuendo and blue humor, making one realize anew not only how influential he was not only to the supernatural genre but sex farces in general.

Thebook concludes with an excellent and very helpful listing of the complete works of Smith, with copyright and publication data, and a reprint of the 1934 promotional monograph Thorne Smith His Life and Times.A MAN NAMED SMITH is an invaluable launching pad for new interest in the comic art of this outrageously overlooked pioneer. ... Read more

Product Description
Capturing townspeople and lifestyles that have long

since disappeared, this remarkable review of Marshall

CountyÂ’s history features dozens of images which have

never before been published. Antebellum mansions and Victorian cottages look new again; cotton gins and

wagons lining the courthouse square mirror an agrarian economy, which has all but vanished from the area. From the desperate poverty of turn-of-the-century sharecroppers to the revelry of a 1950s homecoming parade, all aspects and segments of Holly Springs life are included. Marshall County natives will recognize old friends and familiar businesses in these images. Those just discovering this fascinating corner of Mississippi will see its history graphically illustrated through the lens of

Mrs. SmithÂ’s camera. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful and Delightful
This book is still as enjoyable as it was many years ago. Truly a classic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

When Smith died, so did the book.
Thorne Smith died while writing this book. Even the beginning isn't up to Smith's usual quality. It was finished by Norman Matson, who plodded where Smith would have gamboled.

The Passionate Witch
Thorne Smith, in his brief but amazing life, established a one-man literary genre. In the years since his death no one has usurped his place as a creator of alcoholic hilarity in the novel form. His faithful public will greet with joy this genuine new Thorne Smith novel, left unfinished at the time of his death and now completed by Norman Matson.

This uproarious novel recounts the remarkable consequences of a marriage of a meek and respectible man with a grade-A witch. T. Wallace Wooly, Jr., a wealthy widower who lived a quiet and stuffy life on a diet of vitamins and vegetable juices, did not know what he was getting in for when he rescued a strange woman, entirely nude, from a burning hotel. In fact, Mr. Wooly was a little bewildered a week later to discover that he had taken the lady as his wife. His bride's unconventional antics were eventually to revolutionize Mr. Wooly's life. He who had never in his life drunk anything stronger than carrot juice was to find that steady alcoholic consumption was requisite to peace of mind. There follow some of the finest binges in literature, climaxed by the memorable scene in which Mr. Wooly disguised as an old lady from Perth Amboy, appears at a Turkish bath.

Does this sound a lot like Bewitched? It should - Sol Saks, the series creator, based his show on the original idea put forth in this novel. ... Read more

Product Description
James Thorne Smith Jr. (1892-1934), was an American writer of humorous supernaturnal fantasy fiction. Best known today for his creation of Topper, Smith's comic fantasy fiction (most of it involving sex, lots of drinking, and supernatural transformations, and aided by racy illustrations) sold millions of copies in the early 1930s. Smith drank as steadily as his characters; his appearance in James Thurber's The Years With Ross involves an unexplained week-long disappearance. Smith was born in Annapolis, Maryland the son of a Navy commodore, attended Dartmouth College, and after hungry years in Greenwich Village working part-time as an advertising agent, Smith achieved meteoric success with the publication of Topper in 1926. His other works include: The Stray Lamb (1929), Turnabout (1931), The Night Life of the Gods (1931), Topper Takes a Trip (1932), The Bishop's Jaegers (1932), Rain in the Doorway (1933), Skin and Bones (1933) and The Glorious Pool (1934). He died of a heart attack while vacationing in Florida. ... Read more

Product Description
On what kind of a boat?" he urged.

"Now for the life of me, sir, I can't quite recall," I replied. "It was a splendid boat though, a perfect beauty, handsomely fitted up and all--I think they called her the 'Black Wing.'"

These few little remarks seemed to leave the officer flat. He regarded me with a pitiful expression. There was pain in his eyes.

"You mean to say," he whispered, "that you don't know what kind of a boat it was?"

"Unfortunately no, sir," I replied, feeling really sorry for the wounded man.

"Do you recall what was the nature of your activities aboard this mysterious craft?" he continued.

"Oh, indeed I do, sir," I replied. "I tended the jib-sheet."

"Ah," said he thoughtfully, "sort of specialized on the jib-sheet?"

"That's it, sir," said I, feeling things taking a turn for the better. "I specialized on the jib-sheet."

"What did you do to this jib-sheet?" he continued.

"I clewed it," said I promptly, dimly recalling the impassioned instructions an enthusiastic friend of mine had shunted at me throughout the course of one long, hot, horrible, confused afternoon of the past summer--my first, and, as I had hoped at the time, final sailing experience.

The officer seemed to be lost in reflection. He was probably weighing my last answer. Then with a heavy sigh he took my paper and wrote something mysterious upon it.



Download Biltmore Oswald Now! ... Read more