RFBC #6: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (and a link to the show)
It’s the novel that has perhaps landed on more best-of-the-year lists (including ours) than any other this year. It’s a story set in the world of computer gaming that requires zero knowledge of computer gaming to enjoy. It’s the only book we can think of with two commas in the title.
It’s Gabrielle Zevin’s hit novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow—and it was the subject of the latest edition of Radio Free Book Club. (Stream it here or find it on your favorite podcast app.) Is it a spoiler to say that we all loved it? That can’t be too surprising. But if you want to avoid actual plot spoilers, stop reading here and don’t listen to the show until you’ve finished the book. It’s like playing a computer game: You can always come back and pick up where you left off.
Show notes:
The RFBC crew for our December show was Indianapolis writer Ken Honeywell; marketing writer, hiker, and mother-of-a-high-school-graduate Traci Cumbay; author, interviewer, and podcast host Ashley C. Ford; and writer and budding social worker Robin Beery. Our show was recorded at Listen Hear in Indianapolis and produced by the amazing Oreo Jones for 99.1 WQRT-LP.
Are we gamers? Does it matter? Interestingly, none of our book clubbers considered themselves gamers—but, as Robin pointed out, “gamer” wasn’t really a thing in the mid-nineties, when the action of Tomorrow begins. Ken admitted to playing lots of arcade games and some of the early computer games name-checked in the book; Ashley adored Oregon Trail and had an unhealthy relationship with Tetris. Traci wasn’t attracted to games at all. But we all agreed that you don’t need to know anything about computer gaming to enjoy the book: Zevin manages to give you just enough information to appreciate some of the challenges of game development and marketing without needing to understand code.
What did we love? A whole lot. We loved the relationships among Sam and Sophie and Marx. We loved the humor—in the narrative voice and in the characters themselves. We loved and trusted the narrator; all of us have been working writers, and we found the writing masterful. It’s a plot-driven literary novel, which is not an easy feat to accomplish.
About Sam and Sadie: No. Sorry, romantic types: We weren’t rooting for them to get together (although it was hard to see Sam become so dejected). As Traci observed, Sam and Sadie had a profound relationship that in some ways transcended romance. Sam himself had said in an interview that gaming was more intimate than sex.
What’s the deal with Marx? What’s his flaw? (Except for misunderstanding—willfully?—Macbeth’s most famous How does he get away with being perfect? We had ideas. One thing we agreed on was that Marx’s death scene was breathtaking.
As an aside: Ken suggested that if you mashed up Sam and Marx you might get someone like Jude in A Little Life. Ashley offered a delightful Hanya Yanagihara story.
And what is greatness, exactly? Sadie thinks it’s art. Sam thinks it’s popularity. Unlike Sadie and Sam, we don’t believe they’re mutually exclusive. Ashley made a couple of great points: This is the misunderstanding that comes between them—but it’s also what draws them back together. They keep getting do-overs. Like in, you know, a game.
What else? The freight may or may not be proportioned to the groove. Dov: terrible person. Pioneers: possibly creepy, possibly romantic. Did Sam find the secret highways? We can only hope so.
Bonus recommendations: Robin recommended Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet. Ashley recommended The Best American Essays 2022 edited by Robert Atwan and Alexander Chee. Traci recommended I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. Ken recommended Kate Atkinson’s Shrines of Gaiety.
Next month: We’ll be discussing Gabrielle Zevin’s hit novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. See you in the future?
