Thorne Smith Books In Order

Biltmore Oswald Books In Publication Order

  1. Biltmore Oswald (1918)
  2. Out O’ Luck (1919)

Topper Books In Publication Order

  1. Topper (1926)
  2. The Jovial Ghosts: The Misadventures of Topper (1926)
  3. Topper Takes a Trip (1932)

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. Dream’s End (1927)
  2. The Stray Lamb (1929)
  3. Did She Fall? (1930)
  4. Lazy Bear Lane (1931)
  5. The Night Life of the Gods (1931)
  6. Turnabout (1931)
  7. Rain in the Doorway (1933)
  8. Skin and Bones (1933)
  9. The Glorious Pool (1934)
  10. The Passionate Witch (1941)

Short Stories/Novellas In Publication Order

  1. A Smokey Lady in Knickers (2011)
  2. Yonder’s Henry (2015)
  3. The Bishop’s Jaegers (2020)

Collections In Publication Order

  1. Haunts and By-Paths, and Other Poems (2011)

Biltmore Oswald Book Covers

Topper Book Covers

Standalone Novels Book Covers

Short Stories/Novellas Book Covers

Collections Book Covers

Thorne Smith Books Overview

Topper Takes a Trip

The beloved characters mortal and immortal of Topper return in this uproarious romp through the south of France. One of Thorne Smith’s best loved comedies, it proves once again that he is the undisputed master of urbane wit and sophisticated repartee.
Cosmo Topper, the mild mannered bank manager who was persuaded to take a walk on the wild side by the ghosts of George and Marion Kerby in Topper, finds himself reunited with his dyspeptic wife for an extended vacation on the Riviera. But he doesn’t have long to enjoy the peace and quiet before the irrepressible Kerbys materialize once again and start causing fracases, confusing the citizenry, alarming the gendarmes, getting naked, and turning every occasion into revelry or melee. Soon Marion decides that Topper as a ghost would be even more laughs than Topper in the flesh. And all she needs to arrange is one simple little murder.

Born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1892, educated at Dartmouth, THORNE SMITH was an early cohort of Dorothy Parker’s. He achieved literary success in 1926 with the publication of Topper and went on to publish nine novels in the next eight years. He earned a passionate following among both critics and readers before his death, at the age of forty two, in 1934.

CAROLYN SEE is the author of nine books. Her latest novel is The Handyman. She lives in Pacific Palisades, California.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

The Stray Lamb

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.

The Night Life of the Gods

Thorne Smith’s rapid fire dialogue, brilliant sense of the absurd, and literary aplomb put him in the same category as the beloved P. G. Wodehouse. The Night Life of the Gods the madcap story of a scientist who instigates a nocturnal spree with the Greek gods is arguably his most sparkling comedic achievement. Hunter Hawk has a knack for annoying his ultrarespectable relatives. He likes to experiment and he particularly likes to experiment with explosives. His garage laboratory is a veritable minefield, replete with evil smelling clouds of vapor through which various bits of wreckage and mysteriously bubbling test tubes are occasionally visible. With the help of Megaera, a fetching nine hundred year old lady leprechaun he meets one night in the woods, he masters the art if not the timing of transforming statues into people. And when he practices his new witchery in the stately halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art setting Bacchus, Mercury, Neptune, Diana, Hebe, Apollo, and Perseus loose on the unsuspecting citizenry of Prohibition era New York the stage is set for Thorne Smith at his most devilish and delightful. Born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1892, educated at Dartmouth, THORNE SMITH was an early cohort of Dorothy Parker’s. He achieved literary success in 1926 with the publication of Topper and went on to publish nine novels in the next eight years. He earned a passionate following among both critics and readers before his death, at the age of forty two, in 1934. CAROLYN SEE is the author of nine books. Her latest novel is The Handyman. She lives in Pacific Palisades, California.

Turnabout

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.

Rain in the Doorway

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.

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