A connoisseur of classical music goes to extreme lengths to keep the audience quiet.
A classical music aficionado and concert-goer bemoans the degradation of civility and respect among his fellow audience members. He develops a series of measures to counteract the prevalence of inconsiderate noise-making in the stalls. Resisting his erstwhile partner's appeals for moderation and restraint, his tactics and approaches grow in extremity.
Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection The Lemon Table.
Julian Barnes is the author of thirteen novels, including The Sense of an Ending, which won the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and Sunday Times bestsellers The Noise of Time and The Only Story. He has also written three books of short stories, four collections of essays and three books of non-fiction, including the Sunday Times number one bestseller Levels of Life and The Man in the Red Coat, which was shortlisted for the 2019 Duff Cooper Prize. In 2017 he was awarded the Légion d'honneur.
