The Real Hard Sell: Classic Book Guide and Free Edition
The Real Hard Sell: author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.
The Real Hard Sell is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Stuart, William W..
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
"The Real Hard Sell" by William W. Stuart is a science fiction story published in the early 1960s. Set in a futuristic world dominated by robots and automation, it explores themes of identity, personal dissatisfaction, and the nature of salesmanship. The narrative follows the internal struggles of Ben Tilman, a salesman navigating his professional and personal life in a society where human roles are increasingly supplanted by robots. The story centers on Ben, who experiences a deep sense of dissatisfaction despite having a stable job, a loving wife, and a young child. As he prepares for a housewarming party meant to showcase a new sales approach, he grapples with feelings of emptiness and unresolved tensions about his life choices. During the party, Ben reveals a unique sales pitch involving a fully-automated home—a decision that ultimately leads him to reassess his desire for a less technology-driven, more meaningful existence. The end of the story sees Ben rejecting the suffocating comfort of a robotic lifestyle, opting instead for a more authentic and engaged way of living with his family.
Book and edition facts
- Title: The Real Hard Sell
- Author credits: Stuart, William W.
- Catalogue language: English
Catalogue subjects
- Robots -- Fiction
- Sales personnel -- Fiction
- Science fiction
- Short stories
Gutenberg collections
- Category: Novels
- Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
- Science Fiction
Read this edition
View the complete Gutenberg catalogue record. Project Gutenberg identifies this edition as public domain in the United States; that designation does not establish its copyright status in every country.
Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.
Sources
More in Books & Authors
Keep reading
