Date Ideas From Fiction Books

The Best Dates in Fiction

September 10, 2013

We're happy to present this excerpt from one of our favorite sites, HowAboutWe. You may find your next great date idea from one of these fictional books.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Gogol and Moushumi
Childhood family friends meeting after a long estrangement as adults at a bar, segues to dinner.

"They meet at a bar in the East Village, a place Moushumi had suggested when they'd spoken on the phone. It's a small, dark, silent space, a single square room with just three booths against one wall. She's there, sitting at the bar reading a paperback book, when he arrives, and when she looks up from its pages, though it is she who is waiting for him, he has the feeling that he is interrupting her. [About an hour later . . . ] He hadn't planned to take her to dinner. He had intended to go back to his apartment after the drink, and study, and order in some Chinese food. But now he finds himself saying that he is thinking of getting something to eat, did she want to join him?"

A classic, tried-and-true, nearly can't-fail first date: meet at a bar you know and like. You're maybe not sure if you want to commit to spending the time it takes (and the money, perhaps) on a full meal with someone. Notably, Gogol allows Moushumi to split the bar tab with him but insists on picking up dinner, making an ambiguous meeting between old family friends definitely a date.

Instant Love by Jami Attenberg

Holly and Christian
Taco Bell drive-through and couch make out.

"When Christian is done blaming his dad, they drive through the drive-through and get Nachos BellGrande and a bunch of tacos and two Pepsis, and then they go to his house and eat it and then make out with their awful taco breath. Sometimes they drink beer and then they have beer breath. Tonight he has promised vodka, but that doesn't really taste like anything at all."

This date is more casual than drinks and dinner, and Holly and Christian are teenagers, so it's totally OK for them to go to Taco Bell. You might get a bit more creative with your taco provider, or make them yourselves, but otherwise tacos and beer and some couch make out sounds like a wonderful second or third or thirtieth date to me.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Amy and Nick

"We do silly things, like last weekend we drove to Delaware because neither of us has ever had sex in Delaware."

Then they have sex in Delaware, just over the state line, in the car. In general, don't be like Amy and Nick from Gone Girl, at all, in any conceivable way whatsoever. Please. However, the idea of doing something spontaneous just for the sake of doing it together — We've never been to Flushing, let's go to the food mall or We've never been to Coney Island, let's ride the Cyclone — is a wonderful date idea. The sex in the car is your call, of course.

For more great dates, head to HowAboutWe: The 12 Best Dates in Fiction

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