(Once in a while, I take a new book with me to lunch and give it a half an hour or so to grab my attention. Lunch Date is my judgment on that speed-dating experience.)

Who's your date today? The Anthologist, a new novel by Nicholson Baker.

Where'd you go? Maximus Minimus.

What'd you eat? I had a pork sandwich ($5.46) with veggie chips ($2.26).

Do you have a photo of said lunch?

How was the food? The sandwich (I got the spicy, which I guess is the Maximus) was really quite good. It wasn't super-smoky, which I prefer in my barbecue, but it was moist and tangy. The bun was really great, too. That said, the sandwich paled in comparison to the veggie chips. I loved the lightly greasy beet chips; they were salty and greasy and spicy.

What does your date say about itself? "The Anthologist is narrated by Paul Chowder—a once-in-a-while-published kind of poet who is writing the introduction to a new anthology of poetry." Chowder has writer's block and is avoiding writing the introduction by reading old books of poetry. His girlfriend has left him. He is, like most of Baker's narrators, obsessed with minutia.

Is there a representative quote? "My life is a lie. My career is a joke. I'm a study in failure. Obviously I'm up in the barn again—which sounds like a country song, except for the word "obviously." I wonder how often the word "obviously has been used in a country song. Probably not much, but I don't know because I hardly listen to country, although some of the folk music I like has a strong country tincture."

Will you two end up in bed together? Yes. I'm a huge Baker fan, although he has let me down in the past. I'm a little nervous about this one, because Chowder is so painfully wishy-washy. At least he is supposed to be wishy washy, which gives me the strength to go on. It may not be a home run like The Mezzanine and Box of Matches, but I'm entertained and charmed and learning stuff as I read, which is what I like in my Nicholson Baker books.