Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Summary & Key Themes
A Decades-Spanning Story of Creativity and Loss
In Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin follows two friends whose bond is forged through video games. Sam Masur and Sadie Green meet as children in a hospital game room.
Years later, a chance meeting in Boston reignites their connection and launches a creative partnership that spans decades.
This is a story about work, memory, and the strange intimacy of making things together.
Zevin is also the author of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Elsewhere.
👉 Watch on YouTube: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Summary
TL;DR
Two childhood friends, Sam and Sadie, become legendary video game designers.
Their partnership produces a global hit, but personal betrayals, creative clashes, and a devastating act of violence threaten to destroy what they built.
The novel spans years, moving through love, grief, disability, and the redemptive power of play.
Key themes include:
- Creative collaboration as a form of intimacy
- Grief and physical pain
- The escape and meaning found in games
- Race, identity, and representation
- Second chances and infinite restarts.
Read Also: Remarkably Bright Creatures Summary | Shelby Van Pelt
Characters In This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Samson “Sam” Masur | Co-founder of Unfair Games and co-creator of Ichigo and Both Sides. |
| Sadie Miranda Green | Co-founder of Unfair Games and co-creator of Ichigo and Both Sides. |
| Marx Watanabe | Sam’s roommate who becomes producer of Unfair Games and Sadie’s secret lover. |
| Dov Mizrah | Sadie’s MIT professor and former lover who provides the Ulysses engine. |
| Anna Lee | Sam’s mother, killed in a car accident when he was a child. |
| Dong Hyun Lee | Sam’s grandfather who raises him and leaves his arcade cabinet to Sadie. |
| Alice Green | Sadie’s sister and leukemia survivor whose illness shaped Sadie’s childhood. |
| Naomi Watanabe Green | Sadie and Marx’s daughter, born after Marx’s death. |
Spoilers ahead. Explore the Full Story Through Chapter Summaries The novel opens in December 1995. Sam Masur, a Harvard student, spots Sadie Green at a Boston subway station. They had not spoken in years. As children in 1984, they met in a Los Angeles hospital game room. Sam was recovering from a car crash that killed his mother and shattered his foot. Sadie was visiting her sister, Alice, who had leukemia. Their bond over Nintendo games ended badly when Sam learned Sadie had logged their time together as a community service project. At the station, Sadie gives Sam a disk containing her game, Solution. Sam and his roommate, Marx Watanabe, are impressed by her programming skill. Sam decides he wants to make games. He asks Sadie to spend a summer building one with him. They co-found Unfair Games, with Marx as producer. Their first title, Ichigo, becomes a global success. But the media credits Sam as the lone genius, sidelining Sadie. After a rushed sequel disappoints, the company moves to California. Sam undergoes a leg amputation. Sadie and Marx begin a secret romance. Their next game, Both Sides, fails commercially. Sadie spirals into depression. A confrontation between Sam and Sadie uncovers old wounds, including her secret abortion. In December 2005, two armed extremists enter the Unfair Games office. They target Sam because of a same-sex marriage feature in the game Mapleworld. Marx shields an employee and is shot. He later dies. Sadie, pregnant with Marx’s child, gives birth to Naomi and falls into postpartum depression. She leaves the company and moves to Boston to teach at MIT. Years later, Sam secretly creates Pioneers, an online game inspired by The Oregon Trail. Sadie plays it under a fake name and forms an in-game marriage with Sam’s disguised avatar. When she discovers the truth, she feels tricked but also understands the gesture. After Sam’s grandfather dies, he leaves a Donkey Kong arcade cabinet to Sadie. This brings them back together. They reconcile and Sadie hands Sam a new game, inviting him to build again. You May Also Like: The Lion Women of Tehran Summary: A Story of Friendship & Betrayal Readers who enjoy literary fiction with long timelines and emotional complexity may connect with this novel. It combines character study with technology and creative work. The pacing is non-linear, moving across decades and occasionally nesting game scripts within the main text. Fans of stories about friendship, grief, ambition, and artistic collaboration will find these elements central. The book is less focused on romance and more on the intimate, often tense bond between creative partners. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin — shares themes of second chances and love for artistic mediums. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin — explores loss and the passage of time through a speculative lens. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon — follows a creative partnership and escape through a rising pop-culture medium. Normal People by Sally Rooney — traces a complicated relationship over many years. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline — heavily immersed in video game culture and virtual worlds. “To be good at something is not quite the same as loving it.” “There is no more intimate act than play, even sex.” “Always remember, mine Sadie: life is very long, unless it is not.” “What is a game? 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.” “And what is love, in the end? Except the irrational desire to put evolutionary competitiveness aside in order to ease someone else’s journey through life?”
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Summary: The Deep Dive
Is Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Right for You?
Beneath the Surface: Key Themes
Theme How the Book Presents It The redemptive power of play Games give Sam a body without pain and help Sadie process isolation and depression. Creative partnership as love Sam and Sadie communicate most honestly through the virtual worlds they build. Grief and trauma The story is shaped by sudden losses, including Sam’s mother, Marx’s murder, and Sadie’s abortion. Identity and representation Debates over the character Ichigo highlight how identity shifts depending on context and audience. Infinite restarts Video games offer a promise that no loss is permanent, unlike real-world death. 
Books Like Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Story Snapshot
Element Details Genre & Subgenre Literary Fiction / Coming-of-Age and Technology Drama Core Narrative Tropes Creative Partners, Decades-Spanning Friendship, Grief and Healing, Unspoken Love Tone & Atmosphere Melancholic, nostalgic, intellectual, reflective Primary Conflict Emotional miscommunication and power struggles between Sam and Sadie Pacing Style Non-linear and sweeping, shifting across decades and perspectives ISBN 9780593321201 Pages 416 Memorable Quotes from Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Related Articles
