The following version of this short story was used to create the guide: Moore, Lorrie. "How to Be an Other Woman." Self-Help. First Vintage Contemporaries, 2007.

Lorrie Moore's short story, "How to Be an Other Woman," is written from the second person point of view and toys with formal conventions throughout. Although the short story is organized according to a linear plot progression, the author fragments the narration from beginning to end. For the sake of clarity, the following summary assumes a more traditional and streamlined mode of explanation.

One night, while Charlene is waiting for the bus, a man in a raincoat similar to hers asks her for a light. After she lends him her matches, the two continue to glance at one another. While riding the bus, Charlene tries to read her book but becomes distracted when the man incites a joking conversation between them.

Charlene and the man start dating one another. After roughly 10 outings to restaurants, theaters, museums, and concerts, Charlene decides to sleep with him. Almost immediately after they finish having sex, the man reveals that he is married to a woman named Patricia. Although Charlene is surprised, she assures her new lover that she is unbothered by the arrangement.

Over the course of the days and weeks that follow, Charlene tries to teach herself how to be a mistress. She feels increasingly unrecognizable to herself. One day, while having lunch with her coworker Hilda, she asks Hilda if she has ever had a similar sort of relationship. Hilda admits that she has and relates to Charlene's confused feelings.

After Charlene and the lover have lunch together one day, the lover tells her that Patricia will be out of town and invites her to spend the night at his place. Charlene immediately notices the area of town in which he lives and the ritzy nature of his apartment building. Upon entering, she slinks around the space, studying its decor and arrangement. She feels nervous when she notices a picture of Patricia in the bedroom.

After they have sex and the lover falls asleep, Charlene sneaks out of bed and into Patricia's closet. She studies her careful arrangement of clothes and shoes, convinced they are looking at her. In the morning, she takes a similar inventory of Patricia's medicine cabinet.

Throughout the days and weeks following, Charlene becomes increasingly paranoid, convinced every woman she sees on the street is Patricia. Meanwhile, the lover becomes distant. Although he rarely calls or keeps his promises to come over, Charlene often finds herself waiting on her bed for him in makeup and lingerie. The lover's absence on such nights forces her to question what she is doing and who she has become.

On the phone with the lover one day, Charlene expresses how she really feels. The lover says he is coming over so they can talk in person. After he arrives, the lover reveals that he is in fact married to a woman named Carrie. Patricia is the woman with whom he is living. Instead of simply accepting this fact, Charlene demands that he leave her apartment.

In the weeks following, Charlene starts applying to graduate programs. Whenever the lover calls her at her office, she always tells him that she is doing just fine.