Topper

Published in 1926 and made into a memorable film in 1937, Topper by Thorne Smith was a witty, chaotic, humorous and sometime silly read that was perfect for me at the time. The screwball comedy film starring Cary Grant and Constance Bennett has long been a favorite of mine and I was looking forward to the read.

Cosmo Topper is a mild-mannered, respectable banker who lives a very regulated life with his wife. Suddenly one day he is drawn to buy a used sports car, known to have been the car that a wild young couple, George and Marion Kerby drove into a tree, killing themselves. Cosmo wants to grab at a little carefree recreation time, but his wife seems very reluctant to join him. One day on a solitary drive, Cosmo visits the tree and show more comes into contact with the ghosts of George and Marion Kerby. This changes his life as they attach themselves to him and turn his life upside down – partly for the fun of it and partly because they sense it is just what he needs. Things certainly do change as Cosmo becomes involved in the general mayhem and chaos that now follows him around. Each chapter brings another event that Cosmo must muddle through. The gay young ghosts are playful, irreverent but can also be childishly jealous and revengeful.

Topper reflects the changing of society in the 1920s as the staid generation brought up in Victorian times, gives way to the new tradition-breaking, freedom loving generation of the Roaring Twenties. Having already lived through World War I they are ready to kick up their heels. George and Marion Kerby reflect a new type of ghost, not scary creatures haunting a dark mansion, but rather a slightly immature, cheeky fun-loving and hard drinking couple who love to break rules. These ghost have gone on to inspire stories, movies and future television shows such as Bewitched and Sabrina the Teen-Aged Witch. Although Topper was published 100 years ago, it retains its’ charm and still is a fun read although I didn’t find it as lovable as the film. show less

It is, by this time, a cliche: boring business dude meets a manic pixie dreamgirl who shakes up his days, keeps him up all night, teaches him about love, and then passes into the great beyond. What makes this book still feel marvelously fresh is that the MPDG isn't all that wacky, she's married, and she's already dead at the start of the book. Other than drinking mind-bending Prohibition-era quantities of booze, the adventures themselves are amazingly simple. Topper and his ghost companions enjoy several good meals, but otherwise they spend the summer mostly sleeping rough, swimming in rivers and the Atlantic, canoeing, reading [b:Ulysses|338798|Ulysses|James Joyce|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1428891345s/338798.jpg|2368224] show more aloud, and just digging the beauty of nature. There is singing and dancing, even a little brawling, but it's so charmingly bucolic. After all, if Topper gets up to 25 MPH in his car it feels fast and dangerous, and it no doubt was since roads were iffy and there were still a lot of farmers with horses about.

I was worried about Topper's wife. Needlessly. Smith is a writer who can produce the banter of Coward, and also spend a lot of time telling us how Topper feels about his cat. I knew it was going to have a happy ending, but I didn't know the ending would be so perfect. The overall effect is charming, but never twee. Highly recommended. show less

In Topper, or, The Jovial Ghosts, by Thorne Smith, we meet Cosmo Topper, a bland banker in 1920s New England; his life is dull, and his wife Mary wants to keep it that way. Indeed, Cosmo's only real connection is to his cat, Scollops - until, that is, he takes a notion to buy a refurbished car, an automobile that was damaged in an accident that took the lives of its previous owners, George and Marion Kerby. No sooner does he get behind the wheel, however, than Cosmo realizes that while dead they might be, the Kerbys are very active ghosts indeed! And they are bent on, first of all, having fun and secondly, turning Cosmo's world upside down....Topper was published in 1926 and as such it has the faults of its time in terms of sexism, show more racism (of which there is actually very little, but that's mainly because there are very few scenes involving non-white characters) and basic mayhem, fueled by copious amounts of liquor, Scotch in particular. At the same time, it's very funny and makes some very arch observations about American society at that time, most of which aim to point up the hypocrisy of the era. Smith wrote a second Topper book, and in the 1930s there were three quite successful movies (which, if I recollect, typified the "screwball comedy" of that decade) based on his tales, but this is where his characters get their start. Keep in mind that the casual "-isms" of its time didn't generate the outrage then that they do now, and you may quite enjoy it. I found the constant drinking a bit wearing, but otherwise would recommend it. show less

There was a time when people didn’t have instant entertainment, when they weren’t fed what to think or feel. Before easy and cheap access to television, before radio, before movies ... okay, “talkies” ... there was little to entertain themselves. Books helped. And the readers still had to think. I found a copy of Topper Takes a Trip in an antique store, bought it, and though I’d seen the movie (it was entertaining, sue me), thought I should read this first.

Rich language. Mr. Smith sure had a way with words. Vivid imagery with stately descriptions. Now, I’m not sure if Smith ever drank because he exaggerated mightily the consumption of the milquetoast Cosmo Topper and wild, if generally ... dead ..., friends. Comical show more adventures, risqué in a way that seems a surprise for a book published in 1926. We need not be naive to think that people weren’t risqué, but in print? Regardless of its entertainment value, I can’t forgive Cosmo Topper his, um, spirit-ual indiscretions...but this book was written for a different era. Not that it was forgivable then, but that is just the way things were written. I might watch the movie again to compare, and I expect I’ll read the sequel soon enough. show less

Cosmo, a banker stuck in a rut, buys a car on a whim, despite being the car in which a young couple died in a few months before after crashing into a tree.

Little does he know, but the car is haunted by the dead couple, and soon the three are having a whale of a time. Topper escapes from his humdrum life (and wife), spends most of his time excessively drunk, getting into trouble and hanging around with a lot of dead people - and Oscar the dog.

I do vaguely remember the film with Cary Grant and I can just imagine the special effects being created for this - such as when Oscar can only (back) half appears.

Think the book would best be described as "screwball" which is a type of book - and film - which has fallen out of fashion, especially in show more early 21st century England. We like our humour different now I think. Whilst mildly amusing, this is not the funniest book I've read show less

Cosmo Topper is an odd duck and his story is an even goofier one. After hearing about a young couple tragically killed in a car accident he sets out to buy their automobile from a mechanic. He has never driven a car and so obviously he doesn't have a license. Despite all that, something prompts him to hide the purchase of the car from Mrs. Topper as well as keep secret the subsequent driving lessons he needs in order to operate the motor vehicle. But the trouble really begins when the ghosts of George and Marion Kirby, the couple killed in the accident, start haunting Mr. Topper and their old vehicle. For lack of a better word they are troublemakers, materializing at will and causing general mayhem. Things turn scandalous when Mr. Kirby show more leaves his wife. Vixen Marion is left to haunt Mr. Topper by her playful self. show less

Cosmo Topper is a bored New York banker with a wife who has taken to permanent dyspepsia (indigestion). Until he buys a car and learns to drive. It's the car in which George and Marion Kerby, an unconventional, party-loving young couple, lost their lives one night when they hit a tree. When Topper out of curiosity drives by the tree, George and Marion in their ghostly form, join him in the car. Topper's life is never the same. It's a good story, if aimless much of the time, and the humor is enjoyable if not laugh-out-loud funny.