A Perfect Day for Bananafish Summary

Muriel Glass is sitting in a Florida hotel room, waiting for a long distance operator to call her back. While she waits, she reads a magazine and paints her fingernails. When the phone rings, she does not rush to answer it, taking her time to move an ashtray to the nightstand where the phone sits. On the fifth or sixth ring, she answers the phone.

The telephone operator announces that her call to New York has gone through. The caller is Muriel's mother, who is worried because she has not heard from her daughter since she left New York for Florida. Muriel becomes slightly impatient with her mother, who repeatedly asks if Muriel is "all right." She asks Muriel who drove, and is startled when Muriel answers that her husband, Seymour, drove. Muriel assures her...