# Yet another SF short story ID req **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sf-short-story-id-req/819564 "2018-08-14T03:05:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sf-short-story-id-req/819564/1 "2018-08-14T03:05:43Z")
Short told as a series of short narrations about a family moving from the past into the present, then beyond as a post nuclear war scenario. Maybe an element of neighbor envy. Trying to ID for someone on another website, but I know I’ve read this one. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sf-short-story-id-req/819564/2 "2018-08-15T16:27:43Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Short told as a series of short narrations about a family moving from the past into the present, then beyond as a post nuclear war scenario. Maybe an element of neighbor envy. Trying to ID for someone on another website, but I know I’ve read this one. It sounds like the chapter from World War Z about the family trying to escape into Northern Canada. There is a section about how they have to give up their radio for food that sounds like the Neighbor Envy. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sf-short-story-id-req/819564/3 "2018-08-15T17:16:33Z")
:smack: I thought you meant San Francisco. Duh! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sf-short-story-id-req/819564/4 "2018-08-15T18:35:24Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Short told as a series of short narrations about a family moving from the past into the present, then beyond as a post nuclear war scenario. Maybe an element of neighbor envy. Trying to ID for someone on another website, but I know I’ve read this one. How did the family move in time - a machine, or something else (any other details you or the other guy remember would be helpful). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sf-short-story-id-req/819564/5 "2018-08-15T18:43:02Z")
It sounds a bit like the Thornton Wilder play “[The Skin of Our Teeth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skin_of_Our_Teeth)”. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sf-short-story-id-req/819564/6 "2018-08-15T19:11:59Z")
Way, way older than WWZ. And, sorry for the lack of clarity, the individual family members do not move forward through time, the _family_ does, in the sense that _most_ families do, one generation at a time. The _narrative_ is what moves forward. That is, for example, one from your grandfather, one from your dad, one from you, etc. And the narratives are short “slice of life” things, it’s only by reading them in sequence that you see that things have gone off the rails. A very quick scan of the Wilder play leads me to believe that may have been an inspiration. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-sf-short-story-id-req/819564/7 "2018-08-15T19:13:52Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Way, way older than WWZ. And, sorry for the lack of clarity, the individual family members do not move forward through time, the _family_ does, in the sense that _most_ families do, one generation at a time. The _narrative_ is what moves forward. That is, for example, one from your grandfather, one from your dad, one from you, etc. And the narratives are short “slice of life” things, it’s only by reading them in sequence that you see that things have gone off the rails. Got it. Thanks for clarifying.