Book Lovers

Blake and Nora’s date goes on for a torturously long time, despite the stark evidence that they are incompatible. Charlie bursts in, and Nora talks to him at the bar. Charlie jokes about being a box Nora needs to check off her “extremely depressing list” of cliché small-town activities (146). Nora affirms that Charlie is too citified to qualify for the list. Nora notices how Amaya, the pretty bartender, responds to Charlie. She believes he jilted Amaya and that she is still hurt about it. Charlie says she is mistaken but offers no further information on his reputation in the town. Nora breaks away from her date and goes with Charlie to Giacomo’s, an Italian restaurant that opens on Saturdays and Sundays with the assistance of people in the neighborhood. They say they will go and eat as colleagues “who can’t fulfill each other’s checklists” (149).

At the restaurant, Charlie and Nora joke about Blake and the items on Nora’s checklist. It turns out that they both have younger sisters who are more carefree and spontaneous than they are. Charlie’s sister, Carina, takes after his mother, Sally, who went off painting in Italy when she was in her twenties.