Author Gabrielle Zevin to speak in Minneapolis for the paperback release of 'Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow'

“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” is a New York Times best-selling book about love, art and video games.

The author, Gabrielle Zevin, will be in Minneapolis on Friday to promote the paperback launch of her book two years after release. MPR News reporter Kyra Miles spoke with Zevin ahead of the event.

For those who might not know, can you give a quick synopsis in your own words?

Zevin: I’m already laughing at that because I’ve been promoting the book for two years. And it’s kind of embarrassing to say that I still find “Tomorrow” somewhat hard to synopsis. So I’ll add to that “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” is the story of Sam Mazur and Sadie Green, who have a three-decade-long friendship and artistic collaboration. And for me, the crux of the story is maybe how difficult it is to connect even though we have ever-increasing means to do so — but the real possibility of making meaningful connections in virtual spaces.

So I’ve recommended this book to a lot of people. But I think something that I always disclaim to people when I recommend it is how perfectly imperfect the characters are. How do you go about creating these flawed but realistic characters?

You know, I don’t know if I’m trying to create people that are imperfect, but I am trying to create people and people are imperfect. I think there are some people that want to read characters that are maybe better than us in some way, but I am not that reader. I think the thing that moves me most in fiction is the sort of gap between the way we perceive ourselves and the way we perceive others.

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So what’s exciting for you about this paperback launch?

It’s been two years in hardcover. And it’s been great to just see it kind of sell and sell and sell. But with a lower price point, I’m excited that it gets to even more readers, readers who maybe felt resistant to the idea [of] a literary novel about video games, will think, “Hey, now that the price is lower, maybe I’ll try a novel about video games.”

I read lit-fic, but I am really a romance reader. And while I don’t see this book as a romance, would you consider it a love story?

I mean, I think all stories are love stories or lack-of-love stories. I think, in a sense, you can find it in even the most like ostensibly just esoteric literary fiction. At core, we’re talking about: Were you loved enough? Did you love enough? And so I see all stories as love stories, even as somebody who writes literary fiction. But that said, I think the word romance has a burden that it doesn’t need to have, you know. I think the book is not a romance, not in the way people think of romance. But I do think it is about two people who have a romance of the mind, but not a romance of the body.

This book originally came out as the world was emerging from a pandemic. And now this paperback is emerging into a world where we have lots of major international conflicts going on. How do you think that will affect first time readers of this book?

I think the worlds that my characters find themselves in in the book is the world. It has all of the things in it, not necessarily the particularity of 2024, you know, but it doesn’t exist in a world that doesn’t have conflict. When the book came out in 2022, there’s a little bit that has to do with gun violence in the book, or maybe not a little bit, maybe a significant part of the book. And at the time I was doing interviews, journalists would ask me, “How did you know there would be another gun crime in the U.S. when you wrote this book?” I’m like, “because there’s always another gun crime in the U.S.” And so if you write books that are, again, more in the world, I think they they feel more maybe naturally continuous with the way we live right now.

I want to ask you what’s next. But I also know that the book has been optioned as a movie. How are you thinking everything’s gonna fit into a two-hour movie?

When we went out with the book, it sold in manuscript — actually, it had its first film offers before we even sold the book — they actually kind of happened at the same time. But I said to my agents that I really thought it should be a limited series. And so of course, the best offers that came back were for movies. I don’t feel desperately sad. There are some authors who are very eager to see their characters come to life on screen. But I never felt that way. Even though obviously it would be meaningful, probably financially, it would bring your books to a broader audience, and there are advantages to that happening, but I also just love the way a book can just exist as a book.

Audio transcript

CATHY WURZER: Have you heard about the book Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow? It's a New York Times best-selling book about love, art, and video games. The author, Gabrielle Zevin, will be in Minneapolis this Friday to promote the paperback launch of her book two years after its release. MPR News reporter Kyra Miles spoke with her ahead of the event.

KYRA MILES: For those who don't know or who might not know, can you give a quick synopsis in your own words about this book?

GABRIELLE ZEVIN: [LAUGHS] I'm already laughing at that because I've been promoting the book for two years, and it's kind of embarrassing to say that I still find Tomorrow somewhat hard to synopsis. So I'll add to that that Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is the story of Sam Mazur and Sadie Green, who have a three-decade-long friendship and artistic collaboration. And for me, the crux of the story is maybe how difficult it is to connect, even though we have ever-increasing means to do so, but the real possibility of making meaningful connections in virtual spaces.

KYRA MILES: So, I've recommended this book to a lot of people. But I think something that I always disclaim to people when I recommend it is how perfectly imperfect the characters are. How do you go about creating these flawed but realistic characters?

GABRIELLE ZEVIN: I don't know if I'm trying to create people that are imperfect, but I am trying to create people, and people are imperfect. I think there are some people that want to read, I think, characters that are maybe better than us in some way, but I am not that reader. I think the thing that moves me most in fiction is the sort of gap between the way we perceive ourselves and the way we perceive others.

KYRA MILES: So what's exciting for you about this paperback launch?

GABRIELLE ZEVIN: It's been two years in hardcover. And it's been great to just see it kind of sell and sell and sell. But with a lower price point, I'm excited that it gets to even more readers, readers who maybe felt resistant to the idea that I don't want to read a literary novel about video games or will think, hey, now that the price is lower, maybe I'll try a novel about video games.

KYRA MILES: This book originally came out as the world was emerging from a pandemic. And now this paperback is emerging into a world where we have lots of major international conflicts going on. How do you think that will affect first-time readers of this book?

GABRIELLE ZEVIN: I think the worlds that my characters find themselves in, in the book is the world. It has all of the things in it, not necessarily the particularity of 2024, but it doesn't exist in a world that doesn't have conflict. When the book came out in 2022, there's a little bit that has to do with gun violence in the book-- or maybe not a little bit, I think maybe a significant part of the book.

And at the time I was doing interviews, journalists would ask me, how did you know there would be another gun crime in the US when you wrote this book? I'm like, because there's always another gun crime in the US, you know. And so, in a sense, if you write books, again, that are more in the world, I think they, they feel more maybe naturally continuous with the way we live right now.

KYRA MILES: I want to ask you what's next, but I also know that the book has been optioned as a movie. And so I'm wondering, first, are you thinking everything's going to fit into a two-hour movie?

GABRIELLE ZEVIN: When we went out with the book, it sold in manuscript. Actually, it had its first film offers before we'd even sold the book. They actually kind of happened at the same time. But I said to my agents that I really thought it should be a limited series. And so, of course, the best offers that came back were for movies. [LAUGHS]

I don't feel desperately sad. There are some authors who are very eager to see their characters come to life on screen, but I've never felt that way, even though, obviously, it would be meaningful, probably financially. It would bring your books to a broader audience, and there are things that are advantages to that happening. But I also just love the way a book can just exist as a book.

KYRA MILES: I want to thank you for taking the time out to speak with me about the paperback launch of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Thank you so much, Gabrielle.

GABRIELLE ZEVIN: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

CATHY WURZER: That was MPR News reporter Kyra Myles speaking with Gabrielle Zevin, the author of the New York Times bestseller Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.

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