Gabrielle Zevin
By date, it looks like this was the first 'Tomorrow' question on Goodreads, and it's a great, if complicated, one.
Sam is someone who experiences intermittent, intense romantic attraction, and rare to nonexistent sexual attraction, so the ACE label, as I understand it, is accurate. But I think Sam is the kind of person who eschews labels, and the fact that he was born in 1974 means that he grew up with a historically limited set of identities. So I don't think, even by the book's end, the terms ace or aceflux have ever crossed his mind. But if they did, he might think, "Yes, that's me, but I didn't know that could be me." And I do think, through games and play, Sam finds a way to more precisely express himself and his desires.
That said -- Though I wrote Sam, there are things I don't know about Sam, because these are also things Sam doesn't know about himself. Sam's defining characteristic is, in many ways, that he is unable to solve the puzzle of himself. For instance, I cannot conclusively say how much of Sam's identity is tied to his injury and his ongoing health problems, or if Sam's identity would have been the same in the absence of his injury, or if Sam's identity will shift again as he ages past the end of the book.
But yes, I feel like we're completely good for PopSugar!
Sam is someone who experiences intermittent, intense romantic attraction, and rare to nonexistent sexual attraction, so the ACE label, as I understand it, is accurate. But I think Sam is the kind of person who eschews labels, and the fact that he was born in 1974 means that he grew up with a historically limited set of identities. So I don't think, even by the book's end, the terms ace or aceflux have ever crossed his mind. But if they did, he might think, "Yes, that's me, but I didn't know that could be me." And I do think, through games and play, Sam finds a way to more precisely express himself and his desires.
That said -- Though I wrote Sam, there are things I don't know about Sam, because these are also things Sam doesn't know about himself. Sam's defining characteristic is, in many ways, that he is unable to solve the puzzle of himself. For instance, I cannot conclusively say how much of Sam's identity is tied to his injury and his ongoing health problems, or if Sam's identity would have been the same in the absence of his injury, or if Sam's identity will shift again as he ages past the end of the book.
But yes, I feel like we're completely good for PopSugar!
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more