Name: Fred Rivett's review of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Item: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Rating: 4
Author: Fred Rivett

Gabrielle Zevin

In this exhilarating novel, two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

A Novel

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

- TIME MAGAZINE: Buch des Jahres 2022 - Amazon USA: Buch des Jahres 2022 - Apple: Buch des Jahres 2022 - US-Indie-Buchhandlungen: Buch des Jahres 2022 - Goodreads: Buch des Jahres 2022 Mitte der 90er-Jahre in Massachusetts: An einer U-Bahn-Station trifft Sadie, hochbegabte Informatikstudentin und angehende Designerin von Computerspielen, ihren früheren Super-Mario-Partner Sam wieder. Die beiden beginnen, gemeinsam an einem Spiel zu arbeiten, und schnell zeigt sich, dass sie nicht nur auf freundschaftlicher, sondern auch auf kreativer Ebene ein gutes Team sind. Doch als ihr erstes gemeinsames Computerspiel zum Hit wird, brechen sich Rivalitäten Bahn, die ihre Verbundenheit zu bedrohen scheinen. Ein Jahrzehnte umspannender Roman über Popkultur und Kreativität, Wagnis und Scheitern, über Verlust und über die Magie der Freundschaft. Daniel Schreiber zu MORGEN, MORGEN UND WIEDER MORGEN: "Ein fulminanter Roman, superspannend und gleichzeitig wunderschön."

Roman

Morgen, morgen und wieder morgen

anne

Sie fing mit Pilates an und warf Dovs Handschellen ins Meer. 

Für jeden angehenden Künstler gibt es eine Zeit, in der die Vision die Fähigkeiten übersteigt. Diese Zeit übersteht man nur, indem man trotzdem weiterarbeitet. 

Frida Wiig 

This is what time travel is. It's looking at a person, and seeing them in the present and the past, concurrently. 

You couldn't be old and still be wrong about as many things as she'd been wrong about, and it was a kind of immaturity to call yourself old before you were.

larissa campos 

Why wouldn't you tell someone you loved them? Once you loved someone, you repeated it until they were tired of hearing it. You said it until it ceased to have meaning. Why not? Of course, you goddamn did.

"What isa game?" Marx said. "It's tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It's the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever."

You remember with granularity the geography of cities, hotel room floor plans, video game levels, the scars of ex-lovers, times you've said the wrong thing, and the clothes people wore.

 The way to turn an ex-lover into a friend is to never stop loving them, to know that when one phase of a relationship ends it can transform into something else. It is to acknowledge that love is both a constant and a variable at the same time.

I used to feel like Marx, I need to feel like Marx again, like myself!!! I'm the luckiest alive and not because everything works out perfectly but because I see in a different light!!!!

Sam used to say that Marx was the most fortunate person he had ever met-he was lucky with lovers, in business, in looks, in life. But the longer Sadie knew Marx, the more she thought Samn hadn't truly under- stood the nature of Marx's good for- tune. Marx was fortunate because he saw everything as if it were a fortuitous bounty. It was impossible to knoW were persimmons his favorite fruit, or had they just now be- come his favorite fruit because there they were, growing in his own back- yard? 

"I loved being a student actor. I was fully devoted to it, and now I'm not. I think if l'd become a pro- fessional, I would likely have fallen out of love with it anyway. It isn't a sadness, but a joy, that we don't do the s things for the length of our lives."

There were so many people who could be your lover, but, if she was honest with herself, there were relatively few people who could move you creatively. 

Tell me I don't know you, Samn thought. Tell me I don't know you when I could draw both sides of this hand, your hand, from memory.

Sam's doctor said to him, "The good news is that the pain is in your head." But I am in my head, Sam thought.

It is relatively easy to pack up your life when you're twenty-three,

It was never worth worrying about someone you didn't love. And it wasn't love if you didn't worry.

"Hi," Sam said, without looking at her."You can watch if you want. I'm going to play until the end of this life." "That's a good philosophy," Anna said. She concentrated on the game

The universe, he felt, was just-or if not just, fair enough.

If Marx at twenty-two hada prob- lem, it was that he was attracted to too many things and people. Marx's favorite adjective was "interesting." The world seenmed filled with inter- esting books to read, interesting plays and movies to see, interesting games to play, interesting food to taste, and interesting people to have sex with and sometimes even to fall in love with. To Marx, it seemed foolish not to love as many things as you could.

"We've never...It's more than romantic. It's better than romance. It's friendship."

How your sense of self could change depending on your location.

Los Angeles, especially when taken from a distance, was not a beautiful city, but she could will herself to be beautiful, if only for two weeks. Beauty, after all, is almost always a matter of angles and resolve.

But this was classic Sam-he had learned to tolerate the sometimes-painful present by living in the future.

Promise me you'll always forgive me, and I promise Il always forgive you." These, of course, are the kinds of vows young people feel comfortable making when they have no idea what life has in store for them.

Fred Rivett

Two kids, each in a hospital game room for different reasons, discovered friendship through a shared love of gaming. Their bond flourished amidst laughter and competition, only to be tested by a childish misunderstanding that led them on separate paths. Yet, fate intervened, reuniting them and sparking the desire to create a game together. This was the beginning of an adventure filled with challenges and triumphs.

In my reading, I saw reflections of myself in Sadie, Marx, and Sam. Although I don't consider myself a gamer, as someone immersed in programming and AI, I have experienced the spectrum of emotions—excitement, misery, struggle, and ambition. Perhaps this connection is why I loved 

. Ultimately, it reminds me that at the end of the day, I can always restart and seek a winning path with an infinite lives.

Bilge Ince

Two kids, each in a hospital game room for different reasons, discovered friendship through a shared love of gaming. Their bond flourished amidst laughter and competition, only to be tested by a childish misunderstanding that led them on separate paths. Yet, fate intervened, reuniting them and sparking the desire to create a game together. This was the beginning of an adventure filled with challenges and triumphs.

In my reading, I saw reflections of myself in Sadie, Marx, and Sam. Although I don't consider myself a gamer, as someone immersed in programming and AI, I have experienced the spectrum of emotions—excitement, misery, struggle, and ambition. Perhaps this connection is why I loved Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Ultimately, it reminds me that at the end of the day, I can always restart and seek a winning path with an infinite lives.

I love this book so much! If you’re looking for something heartwarming and about love but not specifically a romance between two characters, this is perfect! Makes you think about how to appreciate the relationships you have with close family and friends. While this is mainly about games programming and design, you do not need prior knowledge or any interest of gaming in general, as the plot is so much more than love for games. 

Olanda

not sure how i feel about this book. i’m surprised more reviews don’t mention the predatory relationship that’s depicted early on—nothing inherently wrong with portraying that, obviously, but i feel like this is as much a story about surviving abuse and violence as much as it is about friendship and forgiveness, which is the part everyone emphasizes

honestly this really depressed me (this interpretation might also be because i’m writing this at 3 am, lol). i feel like where this lands is that life is unfair to marxes who deserve better, and that sams & sadies get to grow off of them 💀 

overall these are complaints about the fact that the story makes me feel (bad), which i guess should be counted as a good thing. i was entertained by this book, even though i often didn’t quite enjoy it, and i was always curious enough about what would happen next. but yeah i found this very sad 

julia

not sure how i feel about this book. i’m surprised more reviews don’t mention the predatory relationship that’s depicted early on—nothing inherently wrong with portraying that, obviously, but i feel like this is as much a story about surviving abuse and violence as much as it is about friendship and forgiveness, which is the part everyone emphasizes

honestly this really depressed me (this interpretation might also be because i’m writing this at 3 am, lol). i feel like where this lands is that life is unfair to marxes who deserve better, and that sams & sadies get to grow off of them 💀 

overall these are complaints about the fact that the story makes me feel (bad), which i guess should be counted as a good thing. i was entertained by this book, even though i often didn’t quite enjoy it, and i was always curious enough about what would happen next. but yeah i found this very sad 

“You remind yourself that no one is paying any attention to you and it’s a perfect time for you to sit down in front of your computer and make another game”

Jacqueline Kim

Captivating

“You remind yourself that no one is paying any attention to you and it’s a perfect time for you to sit down in front of your computer and make another game”

Da leggere se: 1) sai cos'è un easter egg 2) ti piace Spike Jonze, Charile Kaufman 3) hai un animo rococò 2000

Sara Fidati

Late to the Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow train, but wow—Sadie Green might be the most infuriatingly self-absorbed character I’ve ever read. Constantly shifting blame (mostly onto Sam), never truly apologizing, and somehow still painting herself as the victim. Their friendship? Built on mutual use. Marx? The only decent soul caught in their emotional crossfire. He deserved better. Honestly, I finished the book and just wanted to scream into the void.

Liana

Late to the Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow train, but wow—Sadie Green might be the most infuriatingly self-absorbed character I’ve ever read. Constantly shifting blame (mostly onto Sam), never truly apologizing, and somehow still painting herself as the victim. Their friendship? Built on mutual use. Marx? The only decent soul caught in their emotional crossfire. He deserved better. Honestly, I finished the book and just wanted to scream into the void.



Not my usual type of read but I did read it. Some gaming speak and a steady plot. 

Joanna Tweedale

i  wasn’t really invested until about 70% through, and the ending felt incomplete 

Carmen Malca

Let the games begin! From the New York Times best-selling author of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry--a glorious and immersive novel about two childhood friends, once estranged, who reunite as adults to create video games, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives. On a bitter cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: A legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. They borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo: a game where players can escape the confines of a body and the betrayals of a heart, and where death means nothing more than a chance to restart and play again. This is the story of the perfect worlds Sam and Sadie build, the imperfect world they live in, and of everything that comes after success: Money. Fame. Duplicity. Tragedy. Spanning over thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, games as artform, technology and the human experience, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

Foggylong

Nika Khoshdel

Great pace, lovely character developmemt and intimate 

excellent character development and for the most part great pacing. lost me a little after the big thing that happens but the finale is strong.

Mitch

julie reads

perdi 15 anos de energia vital lendo isso aqui, ótimo livro

Pedro Rodarte

Definitivamente uma montanha russa de emoções, da maneira mais clichê que eu poderia descrever, para um livro que passou longe de ser clichê. 

Algo que começa despretensioso e se torna emocionante, se torna frustrante e complicado, um emaranhado de sentimentos que não pode ser desfeito. Me encontrei com falta de ar, envelhecendo junto com os personagens e sentindo a perda deles, sentindo especialmente o quão rápido o tempo passa e o peso de ter só uma vida, não várias, para fazer suas escolhas e viver suas consequências.

É perceptível os arrependimentos e o que os personagens teriam feito diferente, e essa é uma das partes mais bonitas, porque você acompanha exatamente essas ações feitas na juventude e entende que sim poderiam ter outros caminhos, mas não é possível prever e nem refazer, passar pelo nível novamente como se fosse um jogo.

Talvez eu tenha me apegado demais no personagem, me visto demais nele, vivido através dele, mas quando Marx morre, perdi um pouco de vida também, o ânimo de continuar acompanhando o livro. Terminei sentindo falta do Marx tanto quanto seus companheiros.

Definitivamente uma montanha russa de emoções, da maneira mais clichê que eu poderia descrever, para um livro que passou longe de ser clichê. 

Algo que começa despretensioso e se torna emocionante, se torna frustrante e complicado, um emaranhado de sentimentos que não pode ser desfeito. Me encontrei com falta de ar, envelhecendo junto com os personagens e sentindo a perda deles, sentindo especialmente o quão rápido o tempo passa e o peso de ter só uma vida, não várias, para fazer suas escolhas e viver suas consequências.

É perceptível os arrependimentos e o que os personagens teriam feito diferente, e essa é uma das partes mais bonitas, porque você acompanha exatamente essas ações feitas na juventude e entende que sim poderiam ter outros caminhos, mas não é possível prever e nem refazer, passar pelo nível novamente como se fosse um jogo.

Talvez eu tenha me apegado demais no personagem, me visto demais nele, vivido através dele, mas quando Marx morre, perdi um pouco de vida também, o ânimo de continuar acompanhando o livro. Terminei sentindo falta do Marx tanto quanto seus companheiros.

Um dos melhores livros que li em anos.

loved this book sm. exciting plot twists and a wholesome story about friendship

Mitul Shah

This story was so complicated. I loved the evolution of each character and their wholesome and sometimes infuriating friendships. Initially this book felt slightly tedious as it was rather slow, but as you become more invested in each character you cant stop yourself from reading just one more chapter. I have to admit that I found the female MC more than a little annoying though… she seemed overly unreasonable on many occasions. I have to say however that I do feel inspired to start playing some more video games :)

Anna

Molly Bridge

I did not read the summary before starting on this book and it was not what I expected; not in a bad way as I still really enjoyed it. maybe I haven’t read enough but I don’t think gaming, as a context/plot is common for fictional novels. I found it romantic, kinda geeky, kinda sad, creatively put together and heartwarming with friendship as a key theme. 

victoria lim

It would be especially unkind to say, but this feels a bit like a novel Elon Musk would write.

The first third or so is the best and the two main characters are generally well drawn. Their initial friendship and foray into game design is an enticing read. The author is clearly intelligent and knowledgable, and the book is full of  references for the curious. 

That last point is one of the problems. The frequency of references and accompanying explanations doesn’t help the narrative, especially when some side characters only exist to deliver an info-dump that just happens to be exactly what one of the protagonists needs to hear. 

The video game theme is handled well at start. I’m a gamer but no designer; nevertheless, it was gripping to read about the duo creating their first game and the emotional punch behind the clash over the game engine. 

Unfortunately, the gaming theme is not threaded so well for the rest of the story. Multiple characters make references to 1ups and ‘game overs’ and how these relate to life which is not only cliche and repetitive but also overused to the extent that it reveals nothing about these people. A section toward the end based in a role playing game is an improvement, but stretches credulity as a game and a character moment. 

A shocking event later in the novel ultimately feels underdeveloped, and only seems to happen to further explore the friendship of the main characters. Elsewhere, some of the dialogue (of which there is far too much in general) is extremely clunky and didactic. One conversation during a dramatic flashback comes off as completely unbelievable and unlike any conversation I can imagine two human beings having in such circumstances. 

Luke Pearce

It would be especially unkind to say, but this feels a bit like a novel Elon Musk would write.

The first third or so is the best and the two main characters are generally well drawn. Their initial friendship and foray into game design is an enticing read. The author is clearly intelligent and knowledgable, and the book is full of  references for the curious. 

That last point is one of the problems. The frequency of references and accompanying explanations doesn’t help the narrative, especially when some side characters only exist to deliver an info-dump that just happens to be exactly what one of the protagonists needs to hear. 

The video game theme is handled well at start. I’m a gamer but no designer; nevertheless, it was gripping to read about the duo creating their first game and the emotional punch behind the clash over the game engine. 

Unfortunately, the gaming theme is not threaded so well for the rest of the story. Multiple characters make references to 1ups and ‘game overs’ and how these relate to life which is not only cliche and repetitive but also overused to the extent that it reveals nothing about these people. A section toward the end based in a role playing game is an improvement, but stretches credulity as a game and a character moment. 

A shocking event later in the novel ultimately feels underdeveloped, and only seems to happen to further explore the friendship of the main characters. Elsewhere, some of the dialogue (of which there is far too much in general) is extremely clunky and didactic. One conversation during a dramatic flashback comes off as completely unbelievable and unlike any conversation I can imagine two human beings having in such circumstances. 



Listening to the horrendous performance from the narrator of the audiobook made what would have been a decent book, pretty intolerable. I was entertained, but man did the author love making lists… if I had to hear the monotone, drudging  through one more list of things Sam and Sadie felt or did… this book was def overhyped. 

Jacob Hopkins

Lovely depiction of friendship, love, and video games. I wish Sam and Sadie the best

Caroline Piephoff

I really enjoyed this book - I had no expectations going in and I thought the different styles and characters really drove the story. A lot going on as far as topics covered, but overall a sweet story about friendship and challenges of programming games. 

Paige Paul

wondered why it’s getting so much love. finished the book in two days it’s so utterly readable.

My 7th grade math teacher Mr. Dillenberger was named in the acknowledgements for being one of the oregon trail creators. What a guy. <3

mara henderson

wondered why it’s getting so much love. finished the book in two days it’s so utterly readable.

 Life is long, unless it’s not.

My 7th grade math teacher Mr. Dillenberger was named in the acknowledgements for being one of the oregon trail creators. What a guy. <3

Finally, she turned. She scanned the crowd slowly and when she spotted Sam, the smile spread over her face like a time-lapse video he had once seen in a high school physics class of a rose in bloom.

“Friendship is friendship, and charity is charity" Freda said. "You know very well that I was in Germany as a child, and you have heard the stories, so I wont tell them to you again. But I can tell you that the people who give you charity are never your friends. It is not possible to receive charity from a friend."

"Always remember, mine Sadie: life is very long, unless it is not.” Sadie knew this to be a tautology, but it also happened to be true.

As Dov was fond of saying to her, “You aren't just a gamer when you play anymore. You're a builder of worlds, and if you're a builder of worlds, your feelings are not as important as what your gamers are feeling. You must imagine them at all times. There is no artist more empathetic than the game designer."

There is a time for any fedgling artist where one's taste exceeds one's abilities. The only way to get through this period is to make things anyway.

What was amazing to Sam and what became a theme of the games he would go on to make with Sadie was how quickly the world could shift. How your sense of self could change depending on your location. As Sadie would put it in an interview with Wired, “The game character, like the self, is contextual."

The first time Anna saw Chip Willingham, she thought that no one had ever looked more like a gameshow host than this man. He was tanned and buttery, like a quality handbag; his hair had the color and rigidity of onyx; his teeth were enormous white rectangles. He gave the impression of being handsome without actually being handsome, and she could not begin to guess his age.

Generally, obsessively, licking her wounds. What a funny turn of phrase, she thought. Licking your wounds would only make them worse, no? The mouth was filled with so much bacteria. But Sadie knew it was easy to get addicted to the taste of your own carnage.

She was pretty all the time, but she was beautiful in love.

She confessed to Alabaster, "There must be more to life than working and swimming and playing Go."

"The boredom you speak of," Alabaster said. "It is what most of us call happiness."

Alabaster sighed. "This is the game, Emily."

Alabaster rolled their lilac eyes." You are happy, and you are bored. You need to find a new pastime.”

The word that comes to mind is beautiful. This book is beautiful because it’s relatable, it feels within grasp. It paints pictures of possible worlds and possible lives, of simple misunderstandings drawn out over time and the amazing possibilities of collaborating with someone you care about to build new worlds.

I enjoyed exploring them, and will miss its characters.

The word that comes to mind is beautiful. This book is beautiful because it’s relatable, it feels within grasp. It paints pictures of possible worlds and possible lives, of simple misunderstandings drawn out over time and the amazing possibilities of collaborating with someone you care about to build new worlds.

I enjoyed exploring them, and will miss its characters.

Fred Rivett &
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Fred Rivett &Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Fred Rivett &
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin