Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Climbing to the top of the New York Times bestseller list weeks after publication in 2022, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is Gabrielle Zevin’s fourth novel. The book is a work of literary fiction and falls into a rare sub-genre: the literary gaming novel. Spanning 30 years, the book follows two brilliant friends—in love, but never lovers—for whom designing video games is a celebration of romance, art, and immortality. Together, Sam, Sadie, and their creative partner Marx navigate loss, jealousy, joy, fame, and inconceivable tragedy to come into their own. A unique book that immerses readers into the world of video games and storytelling, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow has been hailed by critics, with author John Green calling it “one of the best books I’ve ever read.” 

Zevin is the author of literary fiction novels such as The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (2014). Zevin has also written books for young adults, such as Elsewhere, which was longlisted for the 2005 Carnegie Medal.

This guide follows the Vintage Books 2022 Kindle edition. Each chapter in the novel is divided into several numbered sub-sections. Since all sub-sections are similarly numbered, this guide limits itself to chapter references for easy reading.   

Content Warning: The source text features depictions of gun violence, death by suicide, psychological abuse, anti-gay bias, and non-consensual sexual situations.

Plot Summary

Sadie Green and Samson (Sam) Masur meet each other for the first time in a hospital. Sadie, 11, is in the hospital because her sister, Alice, is being treated for cancer, while 12-year-old Sam is undergoing treatment for his broken foot. Sam was in a horrific accident that killed his mother, Anna Lee. Since arriving at the hospital, the traumatized Sam hasn’t spoken a word to anyone. Sam breaks his silence with Sadie because of their shared love of video games, and the two quickly become best friends. A bitter misunderstanding tears them apart, and they stay away from each for several years until Sam spots Sadie at a subway station in Boston in 1996. Sam is studying at Harvard while Sadie is a computer science major at MIT. Sam reaches out to Sadie, and they resume their childhood friendship.

Realizing Sadie is a brilliant game designer, Sam, who is a master at creating mazes and puzzles, suggests they make a video game together. Thus begins a creative collaboration that launches the blockbuster game Ichigo. With the help of Sam’s wealthy and generous roommate, Marx Watanabe, the trio starts their gaming company, Unfair Games. Sam and Sadie understand each other’s minds and love working together, yet they are different in many ways. Sadie is from a wealthy, white, Jewish background, while Sam is part Korean and has always had to struggle for money. After his mother’s death, he was brought up by his Korean grandparents, Dong Hyun and Bong Cha Lee. His father, George Masur, is not in the picture. Sam also requires constant surgeries on a foot injured during a childhood accident. Meanwhile, though Sadie is from a privileged family, she contends with extreme sexism as a woman in tech in the 1990s. Her brilliant work is often overlooked, and she adapts her personality to be accepted by a male-dominated audience and profession.

Though Ichigo is a huge success, creative differences arise between Sam and Sadie. Sadie, who is sidelined by the media and gamers alike because the gaming world is male-dominated, thinks Sam is deliberately trying to steal her thunder. Sadie also wants to make new, high-concept games, while Sam, who has been cash-strapped all his life, wants to focus on games that are more commercially viable. Sadie frequently accedes to Sam’s wishes because of her gendered conditioning to be agreeable. Despite their frequent rifts, it is clear that Sadie and Sam love each other deeply. When Sadie falls into a destructive relationship with her former professor, Dov Mizrah, and Sam requires an urgent amputation for his foot, both agree to move to California for the other. In LA, Sadie, Sam, and Marx set up their office in Venice. Sam gets an amputation, and Sadie and Marx fall in love. Unfair Games takes off, with games such as Counterpart High and Mapleworld becoming enormous hits.

Learning about Sadie and Marx’s relationship destabilizes Sam completely. He fears turning into a third wheel in the trio’s friendship. Sam also thinks Marx has stolen Sadie and any possibility of a romantic future they may have had away from him. Sam’s boorish behavior makes Sadie angry with him. Meanwhile, Sam has been reinventing himself after his amputation, renaming himself Mazer and openly expressing his liberal political views. In contrast with the era’s restrictive marriage laws, Sam makes weddings between all genders possible in his game, Mapleworld. Sam finally accepts Sadie and Marx’s relationship, and he and Sadie reconcile and go on a tour to promote their new game, Master of Revels. By now, Marx and Sadie are expecting a baby. While Sadie and Sam are away in New York, two gunmen storm the Unfair Games office in Venice because they want to attack Sam for supporting marriages between members of the same sex. Marx tries to diffuse the escalating situation, and the gunmen shoot Marx while he is trying to protect the employees. Marx dies from his injuries.

Marx’s death plunges Sam and Sadie into acute grief. While Sam still manages to be functional, Sadie, who has lost her life partner, completely withdraws from everyone. She gives birth to her daughter, Naomi Watanabe Green, and falls into postnatal depression. Realizing he cannot break through to Sadie by any other means, Sam secretly designs and launches a game he knows she will love to play. Sadie has no idea Pioneers was designed by Sam. She begins playing the game, and her character ends up in a platonic marriage with Sam’s avatar. When Sadie finally realizes she has been playing with Sam all along, she feels tricked and betrayed. She stops talking to Sam completely and moves to Boston to teach Advanced Games at MIT.

Though Sadie and Sam seem estranged from each other, their friendship never wavers. As Sadie begins to emerge from her grief over losing Marx, she is no longer angry with Sam. Sadie visits the memorial service for Sam’s beloved grandfather, Dong Hyun. The friends finally meet after five years in New York for a business pitch. Having both matured, they confess the insecurities they have held back from each other. Sam tells Sadie he thought she never asked him out on a date because he is part Asian and has a disability. Sadie tells Sam it was no such thing: She didn’t ask him out because romantic relationships are common, and what they have is exceptional. As the novel draws to a close, Sam and Sadie spend the evening indulging in their favorite activity: playing video games. When they part ways, Sadie hands Sam a concept for a new game they can design together.