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Quick answer: Good discussion questions for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin focus on creative partnership, friendship versus love, video games as art, disability and pain, grief and second chances. Below are 18 questions grouped by theme, plus a spoiler-free summary.
Quick facts
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Published: 2022
Setting: Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Los Angeles, 1987–2010s
Title: from Macbeth’s “tomorrow” speech
Content note: gun violence, an emotionally controlling relationship and chronic pain
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a novel about video games, but you don’t need to be a gamer to love it. At its heart it’s about a 30-year friendship and creative partnership, and about how hard it is to make something together with someone you love. Book clubs find plenty to argue about: who was right, who was unfair and whether Sam and Sadie should have been more than friends. This guide includes a spoiler-free summary, the main characters and themes, and 18 discussion questions grouped by theme. The questions contain spoilers, so save them for meeting night.
Table of Contents
Spoiler-Free Summary
In 1987, two kids meet in a Los Angeles hospital game room. Sam Masur is recovering from a car accident that shattered his foot. Sadie Green is visiting her sister, who has cancer. They bond over Super Mario Bros. and become close friends, until a misunderstanding ends the friendship.
Years later, in 1995, they run into each other in a crowded Boston subway station. Sam is at Harvard and Sadie is at MIT, and they decide to make a video game together. With help from Sam’s generous roommate, Marx Watanabe, their first game, Ichigo, becomes a hit.
The novel follows the three of them over the next 30 years as they build a company, make games, fall out, reconcile and face loss. It’s a story about creative ambition and the kind of love that doesn’t fit neatly into any category.
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Main Characters and Themes
| Character or Theme | What to Know |
|---|---|
| Sam Masur | A brilliant, guarded game designer who lives with chronic pain |
| Sadie Green | Sam’s creative partner, ambitious and fiercely talented |
| Marx Watanabe | Sam’s roommate, producer and the generous heart of their company |
| Dov Mizrah | Sadie’s charismatic, controlling professor and lover |
| Ichigo | The first game Sam and Sadie make together |
| Unfair Games | The company Sam, Sadie and Marx build |
| Creative partnership | Who gets credit, and what collaboration costs |
| Friendship and love | Love that isn’t romantic but is just as deep |
| Games as art | Play, worlds and second chances |
| Pain and grief | Physical pain, loss and how people hide hurt |
Discussion Questions (Contains Spoilers)
Sam and Sadie
- Sam and Sadie’s friendship breaks over Sadie’s “community service” hours. Was Sam’s reaction fair?
- Why do you think Sam and Sadie never become a couple? Would it have worked?
- Who do you think was more responsible for their fallouts over the years?
- Sadie feels Sam got more credit for Ichigo. Was she right?
Marx
- Marx is often described as the book’s heart. What makes him so important to the story and to Unfair Games?
- How did Marx’s death change Sam and Sadie? Did you see it coming?
- Marx and Sadie’s relationship is very different from Sam and Sadie’s. What does each relationship give her?
Power, Pain and Identity
- How does Dov’s relationship with Sadie shape her as an artist and as a person?
- Sam hides his pain and his mixed Korean and Jewish identity from the world. How do his games let him express what he can’t say?
- How does disability shape Sam’s choices and relationships?
Games and Art
- Zevin describes games like Ichigo, Solution and Mapleworld in detail. Which game would you most like to play?
- The book argues that games are a serious art form. Did it change how you think about video games?
- The novel has a chapter told inside a game. How did that change of perspective work for you?
- Why do you think games offer Sam and Sadie a place where they can be closer than in real life?
Big Picture
- What does the title, from Macbeth’s speech, mean in the context of the book?
- The book spans 30 years. What does it say about how friendships change over time?
- If you could replay one moment of the story differently, which would it be?
- Who would you recommend this book to, and why?
Book Club Ideas for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
- Play a retro game like Super Mario Bros. or Oregon Trail before you start talking.
- Serve sushi or ramen in honor of Marx and the friends’ late-night work sessions.
- Bring strawberry snacks for Ichigo, which means “strawberry” in Japanese.
- Share your favorite game from childhood and what it meant to you.
Books Like Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
If your group loved it, try Ready Player One by Ernest Cline for a game-filled adventure, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab for a story about time and memory, or Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano for another novel about love and complicated bonds.
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How to Structure Your Meeting
Open by asking everyone whether they consider Sam and Sadie’s story a love story. Then work through two or three questions from each theme above, saving the “big picture” questions for the end. If your group is large, split into pairs for one theme and report back.
A simple 90-minute plan:
- 0–15 minutes: food, catch-up and the opening question.
- 15–60 minutes: the discussion questions, theme by theme.
- 60–75 minutes: one of the book club ideas above, or a quick comparison with the adaptation if there is one.
- 75–90 minutes: everyone rates the book out of five in one sentence, then you pick next month’s read.
Related: the best literary fiction books for book clubs and the best book club books for coworkers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow about?
It follows Sam Masur and Sadie Green, friends since childhood, who become video game designers and collaborators over 30 years of success, betrayal, love and loss.
Do you need to like video games to enjoy the book?
No. The games are central, but the story is really about friendship, creative partnership and grief, and many readers who never play games love it.
Is Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow appropriate for all book clubs?
It includes gun violence, an emotionally controlling relationship and chronic pain, so share a content note before reading.
Where does the title come from?
It comes from Macbeth’s famous speech, which begins “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day.”