“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,” Gabrielle Zevin’s novel about video game designers, has dominated the bestseller lists for two years and was recently named one of the 100 best books of the 21st century by the New York Times.
But for months, Zevin, an author of Jewish and Korean descent with nine other books under her belt, has been making headlines for another reason: pro-Palestinian parts of the literary world have accused her of being a “Zionist” and of saying her works are worthy of a boycott.
Zevin has never made her views on Israel public. Yet she has become an unexpected figurehead in the culture war over Israel that has permeated the arts and culture scene, especially the literary world, since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out. The latest outbreak occurred over the weekend, when a manager at Chicago bookstore City Lit told members of a book club that they could no longer vote to read Zevin’s book because of her alleged Zionism.
“I have been informed that the author, Gabrielle Zevin, is a Zionist, and I do not feel comfortable having her read something to us, especially when I know that people would buy it in the store and she would receive financial support from us,” the assistant manager wrote in the email. He continued, “If you would like to read it, I encourage you to borrow it from the library and read it critically!”
Zevin, 46, grew up in Florida with her Korean mother and Jewish father before going to Harvard University. She published her first novels in 2005 and has had a steady output since then, but “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” is by far her most successful work. The book’s two protagonists, Sam and Sadie, are both of Jewish descent, a detail Zevin describes as autobiographical; she told the Harvard Crimson in 2022, “I am, like Sam in the book, half Jewish and half Korean.” Promoting a 2014 book, she wrote, “I am the product of no religion worth mentioning, except, if this is not too pretentious, the religion of books.”
Readers, generally from the left, who claim that Zevin is a Zionist point as evidence to an instance of her appearance at a February 2023 event hosted by the Zionist women’s organization Hadassah (a group that appears briefly in the novel).
Lisa Hostein, editor-in-chief of Hadassah Magazine, condemned City Lit’s move on social media as anti-Semitic and confirmed that even Hadassah does not know Zevin’s stance on Israel.
“I don’t know whether Gabrielle Zevin considers herself a Zionist or not,” Hostein tweeted on Monday, adding that Hadassah had selected “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” for its own national book club and that when the magazine spoke to her, Zevin “spoke proudly about her dual Jewish-Korean heritage, themes she was incorporating into her writing for the first time.”
Hostein added: “I also know that boycotting a Jewish author because he speaks before the largest Jewish women’s organization in the country is anti-Semitism, plain and simple.”
Some also note that there is an Israeli character in “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,” although the novel only makes passing reference to Israel and the character is generally considered unsympathetic. “Gabrielle Zevin has incorporated Israeli sympathy into her books,” A pro-Palestinian supporter of the boycott of “well-known Zionist authors” wrote on X.
Before the current uproar, Zevin was one of dozens of authors who recently appeared on a viral internet list titled “Is Your Favorite Author a Zionist???” which recommended a boycott of authors for whom the answer was “yes,” such as Zevin.
The list was condemned by the Jewish Book Council, whose president compared it to Nazi-era book burnings. Several authors on the list expressed fear that it could make them victims of anti-Semitic attacks. In response to such incidents, the Jewish Book Council has launched an initiative calling on authors to report any anti-Semitism they experience in the literary world.
In December, Zevin also came under attack on social media when fantasy subscription service FairyLoot defended its decision to promote a special edition of her book despite online backlash over her perceived Zionism.
Fairyloot dismissed the accusation of Zionism as “completely unfounded.” City Lit, on the other hand, did not address its manager’s assumption that Zevin was a Zionist when it released a statement on social media on Monday apologizing for removing “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” from the book club poll.
“The moderator removed the book from the poll in hopes of creating a safe and comfortable environment for the group,” the bookstore said. “A better approach would have been to allow the group to discuss and vote on this decision. For this, we apologize.”
The lengthy statement did not apologize to Zevin. The store said her name came up after “several members” of the book club “privately contacted the moderator to express their discomfort with the title.” The statement went on to deny allegations that removing the book as an option represented either anti-Semitism or censorship.
Nevertheless, the store appeared to apologize to the Jewish community. “We will continue to welcome and host Jewish authors in our spaces,” it said. “We understand that Jews have been the victims of unfair criticism due to current political events, and we sincerely apologize to anyone who has been subjected to this reaction.”
Calls to City Lit were not answered on Tuesday.
Zevin, who just finished a nationwide tour to promote the paperback edition of the book, also did not immediately respond to her agent’s request for comment.
She has never spoken publicly about Israel, nor does she address the subject in her live appearances. Perhaps the closest she came to addressing the subject was during a radio interview in June, when she was asked how she thought first-time readers would be affected by the paperback’s release at a time “when there are many major international conflicts going on.”
Zevin responded by talking about her characters, not the readers. “I think the worlds that my characters find themselves in in the book are the world,” she said. “It contains everything, not necessarily the specifics of 2024, you know, but it doesn’t exist in a world without conflict.”
As the author returned to the spotlight this week, Jewish and non-Jewish critics of the Palestinian boycott movement condemned City Lit. Among those condemning the bookstore was Democratic Rep. Richie Torres of New York, a prominent pro-Israel voice in Congress and on social media.
“Since most Jews are Zionists, the ban is tantamount to putting up a sign saying: ‘Jews not allowed.'” Torres tweeted“Anyone who pursues a policy that excludes most Jews is guilty of institutionalizing anti-Semitism.”
Edward Einhorn, a New York theater director, tweeted: “Gabrielle Zevin’s crimes appear to be this: she had an Israeli character in a book, she spoke at Hadassah, and she is Jewish. This kind of anti-Semitic McCarthyism is truly awful.”
The pro-Palestinian backlash doesn’t seem to be hurting Zevin. In addition to her place on the New York Times list, the upcoming film adaptation of the novel – which has sold nearly three million copies worldwide – is set to be directed by Sian Heder, the Oscar-winning writer and director of “CODA.”
