George Landow's "Hypertext" brought together the worlds of literary theory and computer technology to explore the implications of giving readers instant, easy access to a virtual library of sources as well as unprecedented control of what and how they read. In hypermedia, Landow saw a strikingly literal embodiment of many major points of contemporary literary theory, particularly Derrida's idea of "de-centring" and Barthe's conception of the "readerly" versus "writerly" text. In this second edition, Landow shifts the focus from Intermedia to Microcosm, Storyspace and the World Wide Web. He offers new, specific information about kinds of hypertext, different modes of linking, attitudes towards technology, and the proliferation of pornography on the Internet. He also comments extensively on the rhetoric and style of writing in and with hypermedia.

Author Biography

George P. Landow is professor of English and art history at Brown University. The editor of three books on electronic textuality, he has created several electronic hypertexts, including the award-winning 'Dickens Web.'