Xanadu: the Land of Abundance

Abstract

The review is of a book by Mariusz Pisarski, “Xanadu. Hipertekstowe przemiany prozy” [„Xanadu. Hipertext Changes in Fiction”], first published in 2013. On the one hand, the reviewer appreciates the author’s attempt at a comprehensive presentation of all aspects of hypertext fiction (structure of lexis, hyperlink features, connection models, differences in structure) and its relations with avant-garde literary tradition, theory of literature and text studies, on the other hand she provides some critical remarks concerning numerous mistakes, omissions and inconsistencies. Pisarski’s book presents a wealth of topics and references, provides a summary of existing research positions, but is too cautious in marking out new paths.