# XXVII: A Postmortem Message explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Ring Lardner.

## What happens

The narrator describes the literary and theatrical community of Great Neck, including neighbors like Ed Streeter, Sam Hellman, Gene Buck, and H.B. Swope. He humorously recounts how neighbors would drop by for Sunday meals, leading his wife to post a sign. The chapter ends with the narrator going fishing, where an accident occurs.

## Themes in this chapter

### Satire of Media and Business

The chapter satirizes the pretensions and social habits of the wealthy literary and theatrical set in Great Neck.

## Character check-ins

### Bob Masons

Mentioned as Bob Woolsey, proprietor of the Flea Circus, among the neighbors.

## Key lines

> It got noised about that Emma and I had chow every Sunday about one o’clock and three or four platoons of our neighbors’ Company, having gone breakfastless owing to the sleeping prowess of mine host and hostess, acquired the quaint habit of dropping in at our haunch at about that hour and making complimentary remarks about our children.

Word spread that we served Sunday lunch, and many neighbors, hungry because we slept late, started dropping by to compliment our kids in hopes of a meal.

_The narrator humorously describes how neighbors exploited their hospitality._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters/xxvii-a-postmortem-message
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters