Topper

Topper Thorne Smith - Thorne Smith's hilarious and ribald comedy about boring and staid bank manager Cosmo Topper who decides to buy a flashy car only to discover it is haunted by its previous owners, George and Marion Kerby. George's and Marion's mischievous spirits (and a few other ghostly friends and an irresistible dog) make it their mission to lead the respectable Topper astray and give him a fresh outlook on life. Liquor flows, pranks are common, and although not always willing, George becomes a new man. He realizes life is what you make of it, and there are so many possibilities. Laugh out loud when Marion scares away the clientele and staff of a boutique or when George challenges Topper to a duel with clam shells. Thorne Smith's ghosts, their wit and repartee, are bound to entertain. Topper is the perfect beach read. As captivating today as when it was first written in 1926, Topper set the standard for a host of other ghost stories and was made into a movie starring Cary Grant (1936) and adapted for a TV series (1953). A remake of the movie is scheduled starring comedian Steve Martin as Topper, but no production start date has been set. '[Thorne Smith] created the modern American ghost. A ghost with style and wit. A ghost that haunts us still.' --New York Times

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.'[1] 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.[2] He died of a heart attack in 1934 while vacationing in Florida.