02333cam a22003613u 4500 31038 UtSlPG 20260610133716.0 m cr n 260607r2010||||utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d UtSlPG en iso639-1 PS Stuart, William W. The Real Hard Sell Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2010 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Produced from If: Worlds of Science Fiction, July 1961. Release date is 2010-01-21 Produced by Robert Cicconetti, David Wilson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "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. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Original publication data not identified Science fiction Short stories Robots -- Fiction Sales personnel -- Fiction Produced from If: Worlds of Science Fiction, July 1961. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31038 71884 71884