"The Comforts of Home" Summary

Thomas, thirty-five-years-old, is living at home with his impressionable mother, who was so moved by the picture in the paper of a nineteen-year-old girl thrown in jail for passing a bad check, that she had a lawyer parole the girl to her custody. Thomas is incensed and threatens his mother with leaving unless she gets rid of the young con artist, but the mother argues for hours in favor of helping the poor girl, who has a disease she calls "nimpermania." The girl mocks Thomas and his suspicious nature at every turn, even attempting to accost him in his room wearing nothing or manipulating the mother into doing more for her.

The girl, Star Drake, takes over the guest room and a cold war begins. Thomas mourns the death of his father, wishing he could...