It Happens to Helen Summary

Garp is awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call from Roberta Muldoon who has just ended a relationship with her latest boyfriend. Roberta tells Garp, "Oh, I never knew what shits men were until I became a woman." Garp talks to Roberta for a while and then recommends that Roberta speak to Jenny who is much better qualified to help in circumstances like these.

Roberta begins to call Garp regularly in the middle of the night and the two men develop a close friendship. Helen does not understand the connection and, more often than not, leaves the bed to read downstairs. One night Garp finds Helen reading a paper written by a new student named Michael Milton. Helen's evasive answers about Michael alert Garp that there may be an intimate relationship between the...