Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin x Texier Brézème
“A glimmer of a notion of a nothing of a whisper of a figment of an idea.”
The Book: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
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Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin was a breakout success in 2022 and 2023. It sat on bestseller lists for weeks and sold well over a million copies globally. Go on Goodreads and you’ll find over 335,000 five star reviews. It captured hearts and minds - and it’s not hard to see why. The writing is beautiful. The characters feel real, their relationships so rich. Also who can honestly resist that gorgeous cover?
I came to the novel late-ish. Gifted for Christmas, even then it took a while before I finally cracked my beautiful iridescent hardback open. But when I did I could see what people were raving about. Framed by a love of video games, the story is about friendship and imagination and the intersection of both. What happens when your childhood pal becomes your creative partner? Relationships that are already loaded with history shift and change, then shift and change some more. The pattern of tension and relief between the protagonists, Sadie and Sam, reminded me of growing pains - the splintering hurt in your legs, the uncomfortable metamorphosis of puberty.
Saying this, it was also a novel that I didn’t love with my whole heart the way some did. Instead, it’s a book where I take joy from the nerdery. The prose is clean and beautiful and I want to prise it apart. The characters are complex and dynamic and I want to analyse them like I’m in a tutorial at university again.
Spanning the eighties, nineties and noughties, the novel also takes place in a transitional moment in history - the walls are coming down, the web is going up, and great video games can still be made in a college dorm room.
Perhaps this is why I find myself almost wanting to pull together a set of lecture notes - because whilst reading I couldn’t help but remember other novels like Plowing the Dark by Richard Powers (a long-time favourite novel about storytelling, art, and the development of virtual reality in 1980s Seattle), Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay (which I’ll have to review very soon because what a novel), and even The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. Like Zevin’s novel, these books aren’t specifically billed as historical novels but they are all novels about history.
They also all tell stories about unconventional storytellers and artists growing up within crunch moments - world wars, cold wars, civil wars, and their aftermath.
And, they are all stories about making art too; of ‘fringe’ formats on the cusp of going mainstream; of America’s diaspora communities and the balance of intersectional identities; and of friendship within these moments. None of these novels would say much of anything without the enduring bonds between their protagonists - even through heartbreaks, betrayals, losses, and loves. But thanks to the relationships at their heart, they get to say something about history, to challenge it, to rewrite it.
And yes, I suspect most people love Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow because of the relationship at its core: Sadie and Sam and Marx. It is a love story. And the accolades around the representation of friendship between men and women are deserved. Likewise, the centering of creative partnerships is marvelous - as someone who works in a creative field, I hard related to those moments of epiphany, elation, desperation, and competition. But I also think that within this book and the others I’ve mentioned, there’s something so poignant about the making and unmaking of things, creation and destruction, choices made and unmade and remade.
“What is a game?" Marx said. "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.”
Perhaps I’m just being too earnest - but this book brings out my inner dork even though I didn’t love it. I could pull it apart and dissect every line and make all sorts of comparisons. Because even though this was a book I found I could pick up and down, leave to one side for weeks at a time (and nearly forgot about at least twice, despite the glimmering cover), it’s also quite haunting. It comes back to you again and again and again. And that’s why I still wanted to review it here.
Tell me. What did you think?
The Pairing: Éric Texier Brézème, Cote du Rhone (Syrah, 2019)
Pairing a book like Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was genuinely challenging. I wanted a wine with as many layers of intrigue as the story. I wanted a wine born from passion and nerdery and the deep knowledge of a subject that can only come from true love. I found that in Éric Texier’s Brézème, a delicious and soulful wine grown on the east slope of the Rhone.
The Wine: This organic wine is 100 per cent Syrah and - brilliantly - also sulphite free. According to the sommelier who told me about this wine, Texier is something of a legend in the Rhone Valley - a former nuclear physicist who used to work with farmers and wine growers to rejuvenate their land after overfarming, he started his own organic vineyard in the 1990s. Entirely natural, his approach is all about how good soil means good wine. Based on this Brézème, I have to agree that it works!
Tasting Notes: Medium-to-full bodied, plummy with some delightful acidity, this is a supple, complex wine. You’ll almost certainly catch the notes of dark berries and liquorice and with a certain spice. Perfect for those richer dishes - think steak, roast lamb, barbecue cuts. As a Northern Rhone Syrah, it is robust wine so you want those bold, savoury pairings to really bring it to life.
Where can you find it? I first tried this wine at Fallow in St James. I was drawn in by the story of a nuclear physicist turned organic winemaker and I stuck around because it was spectacular. You can find out about Texier’s wine and the terroirs on his website. You can buy Texier wines from a variety of places online, including from Berry Brothers (£17 - £32) as well as some vinters like Nysa.
Did Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow make your loves list?
I’d love to chat with anyone who has opinions about this novel or this wine. Did you feel nerdy about this book or did it leave you cold? Let me know and let’s get this conversation started!