From archive (archive) Subject: Author Lists: Thorne Smith From: JWenn.ESAE@XEROX.COM Date: 26 Aug 89 09:08:23 GMT Thorne Smith wrote whimsical fantasies. Even if you haven't read any of them, you've probably seen them in the movies or on TV. There's "Topper", two novels about ghosts & a meek bankier that turned into three movies and a TV series, "The Passionate Witch" about life with a beautiful witch wich was filmed as "I Married a Witch" starring Veronica Lake (sigh), "Turnabout" with a husband and wife who wake up in the other's bodies (filmed in 1940). I've never read any of his books, but I've enjoyed the films. [J] == The book is for juveniles (however you define them) [O] == Omnibus. Includes other books. /John arpa: JWenn.ESAE@Xerox.com thereaintnorulesaroundhereweretryingtoaccomplishsomething-ly ---------------------------------------------------------------- Smith, [James] Thorne [1893-6/21/1934] [all whimsical fantasy] The Thorne Smith 3-Decker [1936] [O] The Stray Lamb [1929] Turnabout [1931] Rain in the Doorway [1933] The Thorne Smith Triplets [1938] [O] Topper Takes a Trip [1932] The Night Life of the Gods [1931] The Bishop's Jaegers [not published separately] The Thorne Smith Three Bagger [1943] [O] The Glorious Pool [1934] Skin and Bones [1933] Topper [1926] [aka "The Jovial Ghosts"] Lazy Bear Lane [1931] [J] Smith, Thorne & Matson, Norman The Passionate Witch [1941] Matson, Norman Bats in the Belfry [1943] [sequel to "The Passionate Witch"] From archive (archive) Subject: Re: Author Lists: Thorne Smith From: boyajian@ruby.dec.com (The Mad Armenian) Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Date: 29 Aug 89 08:27:52 GMT In article <890826-020903-13530@Xerox>, JWenn.ESAE@XEROX.COM writes... } [all whimsical fantasy] [...] } The Thorne Smith Triplets [1938] [O] } Topper Takes a Trip [1932] } The Night Life of the Gods [1931] } The Bishop's Jaegers [not published separately] Two things wrong here. THE BISHOP'S JAEGERS has very definitely been published separately. Possibly not prior to its appearance in the omnibus, but I've got at least a couple of different paperback editions of it. Secondly, this is one of the two Thorne Smith novels that is *not* "whimsical fantasy"; it's just whimsical. More in the line of the domestic farces of Wodehouse. The other non-fantasy is a mystery novel, DID SHE FALL? You also missed one fantasy novel: DREAM'S END. I don't think it's been in print since the original edition went out of print. I believe it was his first novel, so there may well be a good reason (like maybe it's bad) why it was never brought back from oblivion. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, "The Mill", Maynard, MA) UUCP: ...!decwrl!ruby.enet.dec.com!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%ruby.DEC@DECWRL.DEC.COM Long .sig quote follows; "n" now, or forever hold your peace. "Without a doubt it was Dr. Urbino's most contagious initiative, for opera fever infected the most surprising elements in the city and gave rise to a whole generation of Isoldes and Otellos and Aidas and Siegfrieds. But it never reached the extremes Dr. Urbino had hoped for, which was to see Italianizers and Wagnerians confronting each other with sticks and canes during the inter- missions." From archive (archive) Subject: Re: Author Lists: Thorne Smith From: doom@portia.Stanford.EDU (Joseph Brenner) Organization: Stanford University Date: 29 Aug 89 11:27:00 GMT There are a few really obscure Thorne Smith books, all right: Dreams End is one I've searched for off and on for a few decades now. There was also a "naval satire" called Biltmore Oswald (which I think was really his first novel), and I believe a sequel. Also, I think there was a book of poetry (sorry the title escapes me just now). Dreams End is something like his third or fourth book. If anyone has ever *seen* a copy of one of these books, I'd love to hear about it. Thorne Smith's novels still hold up pretty well, I'd say: they do seem quaint by our standards (e.g. there's a lot of nudity, but no descriptions of naked bodies, or for that matter any sex on stage), yet they also manage to be really funny and fairly risque. A typical climax to a Thorne Smith novel: all the characters get roaring drunk, take off their clothes and go out and steal a fire engine and go racing around the city (from The Stray Lamb, I think). I recommend the Night Life of the Gods as a good place to start. The premise: a scientist develops a ray that can turn people to stone, and a second ray that reverses this process. He goes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and turns this second ray on the statues of the Greek gods, bringing them to life... BTW, I remain unimpressed by all the film/TV versions, with the exception of the first Topper -- with Cary Grant -- which is outstanding. I just checked the Stanford holdings to see if they have any obscure Thorne Smith on file, and they don't even have a copy of Topper! Just shocking. A major piece of American culture has been excised from the record... -- Joe B. (J.JBRENNER@MACBETH.STANFORD.EDU Materials Science Dept/Stanford, CA 94305) From archive (archive) Subject: Re: Author Lists: Thorne Smith From: JWenn.ESAE@XEROX.COM Date: 1 Sep 89 00:23:05 GMT In article boyajian@ruby.dec.com (The Mad Armenian) writes... > [Several corrections to my Thorne Smith list] Well, it just goes to show that a bibliographer lives and dies by his references. I knew about "Dream's End" (it is mentioned in passing in Tuck), but I couldn't find any source to confirm it (it's even missing in Reginald). I've been going by the conservative rule of not including any book unless I can get two sources saying that it exists. (You miss the occasional real book that way, but you do omit most all false entries). And I still can't find the date of the independant publication of "The Bishop's Jaegers". Jerry, could you poossibly look that up for me, and send me the information if possible? Thanks. And a word of thanks to everyone who has given any corrections to my lists (Jerry Boyajian in particular). It helps keep me honest, and gives me access to the group mind of the net. /John arpa: JWenn.ESAE@Xerox.com