When the Devil Was Sick

by E.J. Rath

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1926

About the author

E.J. Rath was the pseudonym of J. Chauncey Corey Brainerd and his wife Edith Rathbone Brainerd. Chauncey and Edith, who were both writers, went on to collaborate on a number of stories together under the pen name E.J. Rath. Chauncey was a veteran of the Spanish-American War. At the time of his death he had been the Washington bureau chief for the Brooklyn Eagle for over ten years. They were married on June 4, 1903.
While watching a movie one snowy night in Washington, DC, Chauncey Corey Brainerd and his wife Edith were killed when the flat roof of Crandall's Knickerbocker Theatre collapsed under the weight of over two feet of heavy snow. More than 200 other moviegoers and theater employees were killed or injured on that night during what became known as The Great Knickerbocker Storm of 1922.

Reviews

[Arthur Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

A promising premise, the hero assumes the identity of a friend who does not want to take a sea voyage for his health. Then the story just kind of rambles on for 100 pages (of 315), when it picks up considerably. It's light comedy stuff until the last 75 pages or so, when it turns into an out-and-out adventure. All in all, an entertaining book (the basis for the 1929 Reginald Denny movie, CLEAR THE DECKS). By the way, G. Howard Watt wrote this one, under the pseudonym of E. J. Rath, which he had taken over from the late Edith Rathbone Jacobs Brainard.