The novelist Emma Copley Eisenberg is not supposed to write about her new South Philly neighborhood.

A longtime resident of West Philly, Eisenberg wove its eccentricities and institutions into two books of fiction: the 2024 queer road trip novel Housemates, and the newly released Fat Swim, an interconnected short story collection featuring, among other local allusions, a pool inspired by the one at West Philly’s Kingsessing Rec Center.

Then about a year ago, Eisenberg and her partner, Art Phung, moved together across the river. Phung suggested that maybe Eisenberg could avoid writing about their new environs, so they wouldn’t have to move again. (Eisenberg made no promises.)

On her perfect Philly day, Eisenberg treks between fresh and familiar haunts, floats in the city pool immortalized in Fat Swim, and browses at least three bookstores.

In a perfect world, I wake up at eight, and I go to Café y Chocolate, a wonderful Mexican brunch and breakfast spot in our new neighborhood. I read my book for a little bit until meeting a friend. The mocha they make is pretty life-changing. When my mom was in the hospital, she was like, “All I want is café con chocolate from there.”

The Clark Park farmer’s market still has a chokehold on our Saturdays. I’d get some flowers from the Amish fellows [at Unique Gardens].

I like to look at all the dogs. I don’t have a dog, my partner says I’m not responsible enough. So I force a friend who has a dog to bring their dog to the park to meet me. I like to run into people and hear the queer gossip of the day — who went out last night, what’s going on.

A lot of my friends have kids now, so it’s usually a good excuse to see some of their kids and hear about their gossip at school.

At the Kingsessing pool, I like to just kind of flop around and float. I can’t ease my way into the pool, I have to jump all the way in. I’m not a particularly good swimmer per se, but it makes me happy. After doing the pool, I always feel 10% less dead inside.

We make our way up to Saad’s [Halal Restaurant]. I like the chicken falafel sandwich. Fries are often important.

From there I go see a movie at PFS East Theater. I always love seeing the Oscar-nominated shorts or when they play older movies. If it’s August, I go see a BlackStar Film Festival movie.

Walking from Old City back to South, I stop at Head House Books. It’s kind of magical: whatever the book is that I want, they always have it. They have good book clubs, they’re supportive of local authors, they do a lot of events.

Head House has a really good children’s section. I usually try to buy a couple of board books because they’re good for little kids and they’re cheaper. I also have a soft spot for the classic things that I read when I was a kid, like The Babysitters Club and Nancy Drew. I buy a couple of kids books and put them in little free libraries because I find that joyful.

I also cut over to Giovanni’s Room, because they have all those $1 paperbacks out. I’ll browse around to see if they have anything that’s cheap that I want to buy for my library or for one that I pass on the way home. I might wind through a few little free libraries. I could hit the one at the Singing Fountain on East Passyunk, and say hi to Little Yenta Books.

My partner and I go to Cafe Nhan at least once a week. I love their vermicelli bowl with grilled pork, and fried spring rolls. They have an amazing limeade too. If you follow Cafe Nhan on Instagram, they often show what broths and soups they have going that day, so you can get excited.

I used to be partial to Fred’s on 54th and Chester. I put Fred’s in Fat Swim. However, I will say that at Chuck’s Water Ice [on Snyder], the texture is incredible. It’s very fluffy. The flavors they have are really special — tangerine, blood orange. I like to get a gelati of tangerine and vanilla custard. I eat it as I walk home.

If I’m feeling like I want a little nightcap, I go to Brewery ARS. They have good beer and it’s kind of a hole-in-the-wall, but not in a sports way. More in a “we might have a weird musician” way. They probably wouldn’t have the game on, but they would have a Sun Ra music video on.

I watch a comfort episode of television or read a book. Right now I’m doing a rewatch of Girls, like everybody else. I get into bed at 10 and go to sleep by 11, if I’m honest.

The conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.