Who's your date today? The Gin Closet, by Leslie Jamison.

Where'd you go? I Love New York Deli on Roosevelt.

What'd you eat? I had the Empire State, a beef brisket sandwich with horseradish on marble rye ($10.99.)

How was the food? I'll admit it: I'm kind of cheating. I've eaten at I Love New York Deli before. I know I love it. But, in the interest of Lunch Date's spirit, I did order something other than the Reuben, which is what I always order at I Love New York. The Empire State was similarly stuffed full of meat, but it wasn't as wet as the Reuben. The cheese, horseradish, and caramelized onions were all great touches, but I could have used more of everything but the meat; the sandwich was slightly dry. That said, it was still better than 95% of the sandwiches in Seattle.

What does your date say about itself? Charles D'Ambrosio, in a blurb on the back, says "In this gorgeous first novel, Leslie Jamison tells the tale of women caught in a chaos of drives and desires, seeking new meaning in our most ancient relations...With language as smart and sensuous as you'll find anywhere, Jamison nails the nervous borders of our new future brilliantly."

Is there a representative quote? "Alice and I had eating disorders at the same time in college and shared them like an extracurricular, the way some people share cocaine or volleyball. She taught me tricks, like drinking hot water to stay warm...I thought about her bones more than I thought about other people's bones. They were like tree branches under her skin."

Will you two end up in bed together? Yes. I picked up the book because of D'Ambrosio's quote—he doesn't blurb books as often as most other authors, which gives him more currency as a blurber—and his blurb seems just about spot-on to me. There is surprising, exact language on nearly every page. The story is taking a while to take off, but I want to follow this voice all the way to the end of the story.