James Thorne Smith Jr. (March 27, 1892 - June 21, 1934), was an American writer of humorous supernatural fantasy fiction. In The Night Life of the Gods Quirky inventor Hunter Hawk strikes gold when he invents a device that will enable him to turn living matter into stone and to reverse the process at will. After a chaotic field test he meets stunning 900-year-old Megaera who teaches him to turn stone into flesh. The two and a bunch of friends set their sights on New York City to bring the Greek gods of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to life