Identify Books Supposing The Night Life of the Gods
| Original Title: | The Night Life of the Gods |
| ISBN: | 0375753060 (ISBN13: 9780375753060) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Thorne Smith
Paperback | Pages: 320 pages Rating: 3.85 | 463 Users | 71 Reviews
Explanation In Pursuance Of Books The Night Life of the Gods
Thorne Smith's rapid-fire dialogue, brilliant sense of the absurd, and literary aplomb put him in the same category as the beloved P. G. Wodehouse. The Night Life of the Gods, the madcap story of a scientist who instigates a nocturnal spree with the Greek gods, is arguably his most sparkling comedic achievement. Hunter Hawk has a knack for annoying his ultra respectable relatives. He likes to experiment and he particularly likes to experiment with explosives. His garage-cum-laboratory is a veritable minefield, replete with evil-smelling clouds of vapor through which various bits of wreckage and mysteriously bubbling test tubes are occasionally visible. With the help of Megaera, a fetching nine-hundred-year-old lady leprechaun he meets one night in the woods, he masters the art (if not the timing) of transforming statues into people. And when he practices his new witchery in the stately halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, setting Bacchus, Mercury, Neptune, Diana, Hebe, Apollo, and Perseus loose on the unsuspecting citizenry of Prohibition-era New York, the stage is set for Thorne Smith at his most devilish and delightful.
Be Specific About About Books The Night Life of the Gods
| Title | : | The Night Life of the Gods |
| Author | : | Thorne Smith |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 320 pages |
| Published | : | December 28th 1999 by Modern Library (first published 1931) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Fiction. Humor. Mythology. Classics |
Rating About Books The Night Life of the Gods
Ratings: 3.85 From 463 Users | 71 ReviewsRate About Books The Night Life of the Gods
This glorious comic novel is the first 'adult' book I ever read - it is my family's favourite novel. Growing up, I was sure that I was Megaera, and was permanently on the lookout for my own Hunter Hawk. It took a while to separate fiction from so-called-reality, and I'm not sure I have even yet. Nor am I sure Thorne Smith ever did, or wanted to. I love love love Thorne Smith. Buy this book, hook up with a passionate witch, book a whole floor of a hotel and order in a flock of drinks. Lose someOne of Thorne Smith's better outings. When a scientist pairs up with a witch with the ability to bring statues to life, chaos ensues. The two decide it would be a good idea to bring the statues of the gods at the Metropolitan Museum to life. But the gods, it turns out, are too human by half -- they immediately start to cavort, bicker, drink, and carry on in a spree of epic proportions. The word "romp" could easily have been invented just to describe this sort of book. I wonder whether the fairly
Hunter Hawk is an unsuccessful inventor, he has seven explosions to prove this fact, causing much damage to his home, the now destitute silly sister , Alice, incompetent brother-in -law, Alfred Lambert, who squandered all their money not a businessman, the brat nephew Junior and nice niece Daphne...oh can't forget crusty grandpa Lambert, live with their rich, reluctant relation...not very well though, except for Daphne they detest each other. The latest unfortunate incident shattered the peace
To be clear, this is not the edition of Nightlife of the Gods that I read - the Ballantine edition that I haul out every few years a reread hasn't been in print for over 20 years.Thorne Smith wrote a number of classic fantasies including Topper (made into a couple of movies and TV series) and I Married a Witch (one of the inspirations for the TV series Bewitched).Nightlife of the Gods is the story of an eccentric, wealthy inventor who invents a ray that turns organics into stone (and back and
I read this because Thorne Smith has been compared to one of my favorite writers, P.G. Wodehouse. When I began reading The Night Life of the Gods I didn't know anything about the writer, but my dad remembered having read Topper. He didn't remember if he had liked it or not though because nearly half a century had passed. I'll say this for The Night Life of the Gods: it begins well enough with a comic "mad scientist" scene. The scientist succeeds in what he had been working on, and has to
Thorne satirises nearly everything in this generally enjoyable bit of fluff. Sometimes he is very funny but just as often can become laboured and tiresome. The novel is episodic and I feel that it would have gained by pruning. The book is a pleasant period piece but not a classic.
This book I just adored, about the time I was in 8th grade. The humor was 'adult' and it is clever and imaginative and still has much to recommend it. An 8th grader, it seems,is scandalized almost exactly as much by louche behaviour and sexual licentiousness as the anticipated reader in the 30s was, seemingly.Rereading this one was a bit disappointing. It plays a bit like a 30s bedroom comedy--which makes alot of sense--but my tastes have changed long ago, and what seemed daring and smart and
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