James Thorne Smith Jr. was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 writer of humorous supernatural fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 fiction.

He is best known today for the three Topper

Topper (novel series)

Topper is a series of comedy fantasy novels written by Thorne Smith. The novels are about a respectable banker called Cosmo Topper and his misadventures with a couple of ghosts, Marion and George Kerby....

novels, comic fantasy fiction (most of it involving sex, lots of drinking, and supernatural transformations, and aided by racy illustrations) that sold millions of copies in the early 1930s. Smith drank as steadily as his characters; his appearance in James Thurber

James Thurber

James Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...

's The Years With Ross involves an unexplained week-long disappearance.