Gabriel Zevin belongs to the micro generation who grew up playing Oregon Trail on the family computer in the early 1990s. Her novel Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, set in the same era, arose from the realization that the entire history of modern video games took place during her lifetime. Zevin had never seen her game featured in any of her literary novels, so the theme felt new to her.
When Zevin finished writing his fifth adult novel, Tomorrow, he told his partner: “I don't care what happens because I'm really happy with what I've done here.” “Tomorrow” remains at the top of his bestselling charts almost two years after its release, and the creative purity of this singular moment keeps Zevin grounded. “You can create a great piece of work, but for some reason it doesn't connect with an audience. When it happens, it feels like a small miracle.”
The subject of art and its sometimes disparate value to artist and audience is a major thread running through this critically acclaimed novel. In Tomorrow, Sam Masur and Sadie Green meet in a hospital lounge as children and bond while playing Super Mario on the Nintendo 64. After a falling out, the two run into each other several years later at a subway station in Boston, where they both go to college. . Soon, they decide to design a video game together and ask Sam's friend Markus Watanabe to manage the business. The novel spans his thirty years, during which the protagonists who collaborate with Zevin oscillate between artistry and popularity, between success and failure.
Ahead of a conversation with local author Ruchika Tarshan on April 25th at Seattle City Hall, Zevin spoke to The Seattle Times about her fascinating novel.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What would you say to future readers who might be resistant to this story because of its focus on video games?
It's culturally accepted to think of video games as: not artis not worthy of literary fiction. [But] Everyone plays games in some way. Maybe you're playing Wordle, maybe you're playing fantasy football. I believe that humans are naturally endowed with a sense of playfulness. Many studies have shown that play can be very helpful in strengthening bonds. [and] Learn about each other.
As Sam says in the book, let me quote Marshall McLuhan. “People's games reveal a lot about them.” But ultimately, this book is about connection, and how connected we are, despite the ever-increasing number of ways we can connect. I am depicting how difficult it is.
Normally a coming-of-age story might end with success, but Sam and Sadie achieve it early in the story, and instead we get to see the aftermath. Please tell us about your choices for this story.
To me, that's the crux of this story. What's interesting is everything that happens after success. Success can be followed by failure, the many ways in which success and failure can occur at the same time, and commercial success and creative success are not the same thing. There are many reasons why people fail in the market, but they have nothing to do with the quality of their work.
This book is about failure, and the title includes that metaphor. Every day you live is a chance to start over again, a metaphor that every gamer knows. “I’m just failing.” At this point. If you are a gamer, you must have learned something from the last round to help you win next time.
In your book you write: “For Sam and Sadie, greatness meant different things. To oversimplify, for Sam, greatness meant popularity. For Sadie, it meant art.” What does greatness mean to you? will you do?
To me it means art. But that's easier said than done. [work] It also happened to be popular. I don't think these two are contradictory. Just because no one is watching it doesn't mean it's a pure work.But the work [also isn’t] It got better quickly because a billion people wanted to read it, watch it, and play it. So I can keep both Sam and Sadie in my heart and mind.
But a lot of this book is about the economic realities of trying to be creative. In Sam's case, I think it's a reflection of his background. He doesn't have much of a safety net, he has health issues, and his family is lower middle class. Sadie comes from a wealthy family. So it's easy for Sadie to say, “This should be art,” and it's easy for Sam to say, “But we have to sell this.” He wanted to write about how classes influence what he creates.
Although “Tomorrow” is a story of friendship, the relationship between Sam and Sadie evokes a romantic relationship. How are friendship stories different from love stories?
There's a moment in the book where Sam is excited about the fact that Sadie and Markus are going to be colleagues. Because his friends are unreliable, but his colleagues seem to him eternal. This book is partly about friendship, but I think it's also about these two people working together and creating something together.
I consider this book romantic, but not in the sense that word implies. For me, these two have a great romance in my heart. Because they share so much of their creative lives and minds, they actually bond, perhaps deeper than if they were married or in a relationship. In the end, Sadie says that while lovers are common, “true partners are rare in this world.”
You've said that “Tomorrow” is the story of “two great people who are great at making art but not so great as people.” Is there someone who is great at both?
These characters spend most of the book in their 20s, and I don't think they understand it yet. I wanted to write an article about that time, [youth] When someone is very ambitious and wants to be successful more than someone who is kind, nice, or fun to be around.
[In the book,] I am referring to the German word “torschlusspanik”. This means “gate-closing panic,” the idea that time is running out and opportunities are being missed.There's a lot about Sam and Sadie. [is that] They want to make their mark on the world. And on a human level, they are struggling. Just because you're smart doesn't mean you're emotionally smart. You can't always come out of conflict or sadness wisely.
