Gabrielle Zevin

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a beautifully wrought saga of human connection and the creative process, of love and all of its complicated levels. A gem of a novel, intimate yet sweeping, modern yet timeless. Bits of this book lingered in my head the way ghosts of Tetris pieces continue to fall in your mind’s eye after playing.

Whatever its subject, when a novel is powerful enough, it transports us readers deep into worlds not our own. That’s true of Moby Dick, and it’s certainly true of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, which renders the process of designing a great video game as enthralling as the pursuit of that great white whale….There are…smart ruminations here about cultural appropriation, given that the game, Ichigo, is inspired by Japanese artist Hokusai’s famous painting The Great Wave at Kanagawa….It’s a big, beautifully written novel about an underexplored topic, that succeeds in being both serious art and immersive entertainment.

A tour de force… A moving demonstration of the blended power of fiction and gaming….Zevin describes herself as ‘a lifelong gamer.’ That level of experience could very well have produced a story of hermetically sealed nostalgia impenetrable to anyone who doesn’t still own a copy of ‘Space Invaders.’ But instead, she’s written a novel that draws any curious reader into the pioneering days of a vast entertainment industry too often scorned by bookworms. And with the depth and sensitivity of a fine fiction writer, she argues for the abiding appeal of the flickering screen.

[T]his is a redemptive novel inspired by the ordeal of Monica Lewinsky…. [T]he last thing anyone wants is to be dragged through the Starr Report again, one cigar at a time. Which is what makes Zevin’s clever approach to this story so appealing. Her novel comes to us in five distinct parts, each focusing on a different woman affected by Avivagate. That structure rotates the scandal in curious ways, and it also shows off just what a clever ventriloquist Zevin is…. Maybe with enough determination and love and support, women can choose their own adventures. They can start, like Aviva, by choosing not to be ashamed. In this life-affirming novel, Zevin doesn’t make that look easy, but she makes it look possible.

This book will not only thoroughly entertain everyone who reads it; it is the most immaculate takedown of slut-shaming in literature or anywhere else. Cheers, and gratitude, to the author.

A love letter to the joys of reading.

…a powerful novel about the power of novels, but there is nothing outsize or metatextual about it, no cloying literary in-jokes or philosophical digressions: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is a book for people who love books, who recognize a story well-told for what it is, and for the power it contains.

Zevin delivers in her blazing second adult novel a Corrections for our recessionary times….Zevin mixes sharp humor with moments of grace as she gives readers terrific insights into the problems of adult children removing themselves from the influence of parents, and establishes herself as an astute chronicler of the way we spend now.

Zevin’s writing is often surprisingly, if darkly, funny, thanks to her wry and astute cultural observations….[Main character] Patsy is flawed like the rest of her family, but she also has complex thoughts and tries to live without hypocrisy….Her experiences in Iraq have left her scarred and jittery, but she has too much bravado to wallow in self-pity. Zevin breathes real life into this tough-girl vet, a heroine for our times, recognizable from life but new to fiction.

Every so often a book comes along with a premise so fresh and arresting it seems to exist in a category all its own. “Elsewhere,” by Gabrielle Zevin, is such a book. Zevin’s touch is marvelously light even as she considers profundities, easily moving among humor, wisdom and lyricism… No plot synopsis can convey what a rich, wise spell this book casts.