Take Paris Review managing editor Nicole Rudick out to lunch and discover the electric pleasures of art imitating life in Muriel Spark's Loitering with Intent. 

Dame Muriel's ruthless, warm, witty novel is as much about the nuts and bolts of writing as it is about the mysteries of literary faith. "Sometimes," her narrator explains, "I don't actually meet a character I have created in a novel until some time after the novel has been written and published."

A few suggested lunching literary haunts: Raoul’s, Waverly Inn, The Brandy Library. You kindly take care of lunch and Nicole will take it from there. You're welcome to bring up to five friends with you or enjoy the discussion alone.