A Bad Day for Sales

by Fritz Leiber

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

16 pages, ebook

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. was one of the more interesting of the young writers who came into HP Lovecraft's orbit, and some of his best early short fiction is horror rather than sf or fantasy. He found his mature voice early in the first of the sword-and-sorcery adventures featuring the large sensitive barbarian Fafhrd and the small street-smart-ish Gray Mouser; he returned to this series at various points in his career, using it sometimes for farce and sometimes for gloomy mood pieces--The Swords of Lankhmar is perhaps the best single volume of their adventures. Leiber's science fiction includes the planet-smashing The Wanderer in which a large cast mostly survive flood, fire, and the sexual attentions of feline aliens, and the satirical A Spectre is Haunting Texas in which a gangling, exo-skeleton-clad actor from the Moon leads a revolution and finds his true love. Leiber's late short fiction, and the fine horror novel Our Lady of Darkness, combine autobiographical issues like his struggle with depression and alcoholism with meditations on the emotional content of the fantastic genres. Leiber's capacity for endless self-reinvention and productive self-examination kept him, until his death, one of the most modern of his sf generation.

Used These Alternate Names: Maurice Breçon, Fric Lajber, Fritz Leiber, Jr., Fritz R. Leiber, Fritz Leiber Jun., Фриц Лейбер, F. Lieber, フリッツ・ライバー

Reviews

[Federico DN · Rating 4 out of 5]

No sale.

Night-time Manhattan; Robie is the one and only first-ever robot salesman, the novelty prototype fantastically popular and gathering crowds by the hundreds whenever he is out in the streets selling his various goods. Everyone loves Robie and his funny sales gimmicks, even the kids, who sometimes receive free polly-lops.

Nice! Very nice. I just love a good post-apocalyptic story, and this one delivered excellently on that front. A terribly unpredictable and bittersweet ending, both heartwarming and heart-crushing at the same time. Sublime. Masterful. Heavily reminded me of 'There Will Come Soft Rains' by Ray Bradbury. May have to read more by Fritz Leiber one of these days.

It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.



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PERSONAL NOTE :
[1953] [8p] [Sci-Fi] [Recommendable]
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★★★★☆ A Bad Day for Sales
★☆☆☆☆ Smoke Ghost [1.5]

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No hay venta.

Manhattan, de noche; Robie es el único y primer robot vendedor, el novedoso prototipo increíblemente popular y reuniendo multitudes de a cientos cada vez que sale a la calle a vender sus diversos productos. Todo el mundo ama a Robie y sus divertidos trucos de ventas, incluso los niños, que a veces reciben golosinas gratis.

¡Ah genial! Muy bueno. Simplemente amo una buena historia post-apocalíptica, y ésta cumplió de manera excelente en ese aspecto. Un final terriblemente impredecible y agridulce, conmovedor y desgarrador al mismo tiempo. Sublime. Magistral. Me recordó mucho a 'Vendrán lluvias suaves' de Ray Bradbury. Quizás tenga que leer más de Fritz Leiber uno de estos días.

Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.



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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1953] [8p] [Ciencia Ficción] [Recomendable]
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[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

The other reviewers here think, respectively, tht this is satire and cute. I'll go with cute, not a quality I admire--but I've worked on and off with salespeople and don't recognize satire here, just a salesbeing doing its job. Which is also true of the story.

Read in Silverberg's Men and Machines: Science Fiction Stories by Fred Saberhagan, Jack Williamson, Fritz Leiber, and More!.

[Chris Aldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

13/20 17 mins. Part of LibriVox Audiobook “Short SF Collection Vol. 058”. Well narrated by Dale Grothmann. Excellent apocalyptic warning of the fashionable fear of nuclear annihilation popular at the time ; together with a wry warning about the twisted capitalist values in the USA that prioritise sales over all human values, and it’s possible consequences at the dawn of the robotic world... Fritz’s satirical humour strikes the bullseye again.

[Zen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What a strangely dark and funny story. "
- a cynical listener

"It had me laughing while eating dinner."
- a hungry wag

"Let me through! I'm an underwear salesman!"
- an ancient cartoonist

"I have always hated salesmen."
- a foot left in a door

"The best humour is always an ugly, bitter truth."
- a hung court jester

"Every ending is a chance for a fresh restart."
- Dr. Victor von Frankenstein

[Andy Hickman · Rating 2 out of 5]

“A Bad Day For Sales” by Fritz Leiber
Robie is a sort-of-vending machine robot.
‘Help me, Robie,’ [the little girl] said. “I want my mother.’
The title makes sense by story’s end… and it is not just the end of the story!

[Lizabeth Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robie, the first sales robot, is on the street, but having a hard time making sales. Then things get a lot worse.

Very short, very cute even with that "worse" part. 3.5 out of 5.

[Antonis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A grim little story about robots, sales, alienation, capitalism and the Bomb.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny Robbie the robot selling candy!

[ملكة المماليك🇵🇸 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think of this as a mix between satire and a little fun story.