everett (11/22/82)
#R:sask:-8900:hp-pcd:4800005:000:736
hp-pcd!everett Nov 22 09:00:00 1982
from: Everett Kaser
!hplabs!hp-pcd
Corvallis, OR
'Turnabout' (I think that was the name, but the brief description you give
*is* it) was the name of a novel written in the 1930s or there-about, by
C.S. Thorne (I may have the initials wrong, but the last name is right).
The plot of the novel was indeed that a husband and wife trade bodies due
to the 'influence' of an artifact.
This is the same author, by the way, who wrote the original novel upon
which a 1950s TV series was based, starring one of the leading actors
from the Man From U.N.C.L.E. Anyone care to guess the answer to this one?
Go ahead, it's already on the net a few articles back. (I think Thorne
also wrote a sequel to this novel, but I'm not sure).everett (11/24/82)
#R:sask:-8900:hp-pcd:4800007:000:1151
hp-pcd!everett Nov 24 08:10:00 1982
From: Everett Kaser
!hplabs!hp-pcd
Corvallis, OR
Sorry, but I was close. The authors name was Thorne Smith, the name of the
book *was* 'Turnabout' and it was first published in 1931. It is currently
available as a Del Rey book from Ballantine Books along with several other
'light fantasies' by the same author:
Topper
Topper Takes A Trip
The Night Life Of The Gods
The Stray Lamb
Rain In The Doorway
The 'teaser' (read: 'plot give-away') blurb on the back of 'Turnabout' is:
Sally Willows envied her adman husband his glamorous work;
Tim Willows felt that Sally lived in ease and luxury while
he was sweating to pay the bills. So an ill-tempered minor
god, tired of their bickering, worked a modest miracle...
...and Sally Willows, now occupying her husband's body,
experienced the full horrors of the Nationwide Advertising
Agency, while Tim, now outwardly Sally, dealt with the
amorous advances of a local Lothario.
It was a toss-up whether Sally/Tim's well-earned dismissal
or Tim/Sally's bizarre attempt at murder was more spectacular
but both seemed insignificant when Tim found he was pregnant!