On the HahaFiction shelf
Topper
Topper · Book 1 · 1926
Cosmo Topper, a bank manager bored with his orderly life, buys a used car. Its former owners, George and Marion Kerby, died in a crash and now haunt it. They take an interest in their purchaser and set about giving him the adventures his suburban routine has kept at bay.
From the publisher’s blurb
“the hilarious, ribald comedy”Read the full description at Modern Library / Penguin Random House
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What makes it funny?
Even before the ghosts arrive, Topper struggles with his own household. He complains that the cat has yawned and scratched; his wife assumes he means her and blames the veal. One reader in a book group remembers laughing through the Topper books, while warning that the period humor can feel inappropriate today.
The comedy at work
Smith's narrator gives tiny domestic grievances the attention Topper thinks they deserve. The familiar sequence of his wife putting away her sewing makes him despair: even a change in the order would help. The Kerbys give this rigid man far more disruption than he bargained for.
Try this if…
Readers who enjoy dry narration and jokes at the expense of suburban respectability have plenty to work with here. The supernatural setup brings a reckless ghost couple into a life organized around avoiding disturbance.
Good to know
First published in 1926, the book is described by its publisher as ribald. The supplied reader recommendation is one person's recollection of the Topper books; its caution about dated attitudes accompanies that enthusiasm.
A few distinguishing details
- A secondhand car with its previous owners still attached
- A respectable bank manager recruited into ghostly adventures
More funny classic comedy
Sources & further reading
- Topper by Thorne Smith, Penguin Random House / Modern Library
Publisher
- Series bibliography
Book information
- Publisher
Publisher
- Read the opening chapters
Reading sample
- Reader discussion
Reader discussion
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