Thorne Smith

24 featured booksThorne Smith

James Thorne Smith, Jr. (March 27, 1892 – June 20, 1934) was an American writer of humorous supernatural fantasy fiction under the byline Thorne Smith. He is best known today for the two Topper novels, comic fantasy fiction involving sex, much drinking and ghosts. With racy illustrations, these sold millions of copies in the 1930s and were equally popular in paperbacks of the 1950s. Smith drank as steadily as his characters; James Thurber's The Years with Ross tells the story of Smith's unexplained week-long disappearance. When asked why he hadn't called-in sick, he retorted, "The telephone was in the hall and there was a draft." Smith was born in Annapolis, Maryland, the son of a Navy commodore, and attended Dartmouth College. Following hungry years in Greenwich Village, working part-time as an advertising agent, Smith achieved meteoric success with the publication of Topper in 1926. He was an early resident of Free Acres, a social experimental community developed by Bolton Hall according to the economic principles of Henry George in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. He died of a heart attack in 1934 while vacationing in Florida.

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OL28012A

Overview

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24 representative editions

Author pages in Bookitis are intended to show only works actually attributed to the author and a representative edition for each of those works.

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Display name
Thorne Smith
Personal name
Thorne Smith
Source identifier
OL28012A

Featured books

Representative editions for works actually authored by this person.

Works in catalog

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Out O'Luck
Representative edition published 2021
Open Work
Haunts and by-paths
Representative edition published 2018
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THE PASSIONATE WITCH
Representative edition published 2013
Open Work
Rain in the Doorway - Large Print Edition
Representative edition published 2008
Open Work
Topper Takes a Trip
Representative edition published 2000
Open Work
Topper
Representative edition published 1999
Open Work
Biltmore Oswald, the diary of a hapless recruit
Representative edition published 1996
Open Work
Bishop's Jaegers Annotated
Representative edition published 1988
Open Work
Night Life of the Gods (Annotated)
Representative edition published 1980
Open Work
Turnabout - Original Edition
Representative edition published 1980
Open Work
Glorious Pool - Original Edition
Representative edition published 1935
Open Work
Skin and Bones
Representative edition published 1933
Open Work
Stray Lamb
Representative edition published 1929
Open Work
Did she fall?
Representative edition published 2018
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Yonder's Henry
Representative edition published 2018
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Dream's end
Representative edition published 2018
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The Jovial Ghosts
Representative edition published 2018
Open Work
Lazy Bear lane
Representative edition published 2018
Open Work
Jovial Ghosts / Topper
Representative edition published 2017
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Broadside
Representative edition published 1994
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The Thorne Smith three bagger
Representative edition published 1945
Open Work
The bishop's jaegers
Representative edition published 1945
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The Thorne Smith triplets
Representative edition published 1944
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The Thorne Smith 3-decker
Representative edition published 1936
Open Work