You've Reached Sam

The genre of magical realism, a term first coined in 1925, is “a genre of literature that depicts the real world as having an undercurrent of magic or fantasy,” usually associated with Latin America, where it was first created (“What is Magical Realism?”). In this genre, the world is still grounded, but fantastical elements are added into the normal world. Stories blur the line between reality and fantasy, focusing on “mundane situations with fantastical elements” (“What is Magical Realism?”). Often, authors “deliberately leave the magic in their stories unexplained,” which occurs in You’ve Reached Sam, as Thao never explains how and why the cell phone connects Julie and Sam after his death (“What is Magical Realism?”). Some rules of the phone are established, such as their connection not lasting forever, or Julie needing to pick up if Sam calls her instead. Beyond these few rules that Sam can decipher, their magical phone calls are never clarified. In fact, in response to Julie’s many questions, Sam often repeats that he doesn’t understand how they’re able to talk, but that they should just trust and enjoy their incredible second chance.