Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Two kids meet in a hospital gaming room in 1987. One is visiting her sister, the other is recovering from a car crash. The days and months are long there. Their love of video games becomes a shared world -- of joy, escape and fierce competition. But all too soon that time is over, fades from view.
When the pair spot each other eight years later in a crowded train station, they are catapulted back to that moment. The spark is immediate, and together they get to work on what they love - making games to delight, challenge and immerse players, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives. Their collaborations make them superstars.
This is the story of the perfect worlds Sadie and Sam build, the imperfect world they live in, and of everything that comes after success: Money. Fame. Duplicity. Tragedy.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow takes us on a dazzling imaginative quest as it examines the nature of identity, creativity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play and, above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.
Review: In 1987, two kids, Sadie and Sam, meet in a hospital. She is there because her sister is sick. And he is there recovering from a tragic car accident that has changed the trajectory of his life. They quickly bond over their love of video games and play hours together. Eight years later, they run into each in a crowded train station and begin working together making games that will ultimately change the video game industry. While not romantic love, theirs is a partnership and friendship that endures through decades and many life changes.
There is a lot to unpack in this book! This is a complicated relationship about complicated people who frequently have disagreements and falling outs. Other than the themes of friendship, innovation, entrepreneurship, and business partnership, this book touches on disability, life as an Asisan American, parental death, and gun violence.
I was also intrigued by the mirroring or story within a story concept Zevin uses. For instance, Sadie and Sam bond over games and over and over, it is the games and immersing themselves in an imaginative world that brings them back together. The beginning of Sam and Sadie's friendship and the conclusion of the novel also felt like a mirroring. The game has been reset, they will begin again: tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.
I have previously read The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and really admire her ability to write unconventional storylines about unlikely relationships. Her characters typically are quirky and have frequently endured great loss. I like that she doesn't necessarily write romantic love stories; but instead writes about incredibly meaningful relationships and bonds that often are on the margins in fiction, in this case business partners and best friends.
Stars: 4
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