Abstract

Introducing a posthumous collection of writings by Donald Barthelme, Thomas Pynchon says that the book in hand offers "the do-it-yourself hypertextualist … a chance to browse and recombine, often with striking results" (I xv). For those of us whose work in hypertext has been deeply informed by Pynchon's fiction, this statement in itself represents a pretty striking development, not to mention a huge thrill. For starters, it logs Pynchon's name on the very short list of artworld legends who have speculated that hypertext might be worth thinking about (see also Coover and Eno). It also bolsters our suspicion that writers like Acker, Burroughs, Coover, Dick, Pynchon, Reed, Rushdie and others have developed a narrative sensibility that resonates with–or, as they say in cultural studies, articulates to (see Grossberg) –certain late-breaking developments in communication technology. This should not be surprising. After all, Pynchon is the writer who gave us Tyrone [Jr.] and his fantasy of the "Electroworld".

How to Cite:

Moulthrop, S. & McDaid, J., (1993) “"Not Yet Blindingly One": Gravity's Rainbow and the Hypertextualists”, Pynchon Notes , 132-151. doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/pn.219