What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
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Death of a Salesperson and Other Untimely Exits
SOLVED: Adult Fiction
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SOLVED. Short Story in a collection by Robert Barnard(?). Unpleasant female professor (women's studies) mistreats her staff, employee misses holiday (Christmas?) event. Prof dislikes using old, unreliable elevator. [s]
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Maybe I'm wrong and it's not by Robert Barnard. Just occurred to me that might be why I can't locate it.
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What's the genre or tone?
What's the common theme/elements of the short stories in this collection? Written by a single or multiple author?
Author mentioned - Robert Barnard
I read it for the first time probably 20+ years ago, late 90's to 2003 most likely, but it wasn't new then. Then I ran across it in anthology including lots of mystery writers at least 5 but probably more like 8-10 years ago. I remember commenting to my mother that I remembered the story but not that Barnard had written it. In the story this women's studies professor treats her staff badly, making her secretary or maybe some other type of worker in her office stay late and miss an important holiday event--maybe her daughter's Christmas play or something like that. I think one or more cleaning staff also have to stay late so the prof can finish up whatever it is that she's doing. The professor dislikes the elevator, which is old and unreliable, gets stuck often and needs workers to come in and get it going again. And I think the prof is claustrophobic, too. So they finally finish up, having missed all their important events for her unimportant project, and they take the elevator down. They chat for awhile and the elevator goes back up. They see it stop at her floor, start down, and then stop. They glance at each other and leave the building, knowing she'll be stuck there over the long holiday.
bump-would really like to track down this short story.
Sounds like some kind of remake of A Christmas Carol.
Amber (Daisymau) wrote: "Sounds like some kind of remake of A Christmas Carol."The Dickens one?
Mary wrote: "Amber (Daisymau) wrote: "Sounds like some kind of remake of A Christmas Carol."The Dickens one?"
Yes. I seem to remember reading a remake several years ago. I can't remember the MC's name or the other character's names. I know it wasn't Scrooge.
The short story I'm thinking of isn't really about a Scrooge character, as there is no redemption--more like passive revenge.
Rosa wrote: "Bump."Thanks for the Bump Rosa. I can't believe no one else remembers this story, because it had a huge effect on me. The author I THINK wrote it did most of his writing in the 80's and 90's. And I could be wrong about who wrote it, except it really seems like Barnard's style.
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I found it!! The short story is called "Sisters" and as I thought, it is by Robert Barnard. It's in an anthology called Death of a Salesperson and Other Untimely Exits.
FANTASTIC! I can't wait to read it!"Sisters"...ha!
A really unpleasant female professor, and elevator in an old building, mistreated staff.