This is a summary of the
short story, "The Facts of Life," by Somerset Maugham
Henry Garnet is a man of habit who stops every afternoon on his way home from the city to
play bridge with his
friends. He is a very pleasant man and has a son on whom he dotes. The son is eighteen and plays tennis rather well. When a friend mentions that the son should play in a
tournament in Monte Carlo, Henry''s wife, friends, and son gang up on him, manipulating him into giving his consent for the
boy to go. Before his son''s departure, Henry sets him down to give fatherly
advice on the issues of gambling, drinking and women. The boy promises to remember that advice. Through the tournament, the boy avoids temptation, but on the last night before returning to his home, he indulges. When he returns home, he relates to his father what has taken place. The next afternoon, Henry is in such a temper that he cannot even play a successful hand of bridge. He finally breaks down to tell his friends his problem.
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