SOURCE: "The Changing Shape of Fiction," in Utne Reader, No. 62, March-April, 1994, pp. 131-32.

[Below, Goldstein comments on the new field of hyperfiction and reviews several works in the genre.]

Despite its dramatic name, hyperfiction—the latest craze in hightech literature—is basically software: You load it onto your computer and use certain tools to navigate through it. And what a ride it is.

In hyperfiction, you don't just read, you make choices. It's the classic existentialist dilemma manifested in the reading process. You're at least partially responsible for creating (by choice or actual writing) what you read, so you can never just snuggle up with your laptop and get lost in the story. Rather, you can get lost in the story, but it's your responsibility to find the way out, if indeed you want to get out, which is all up to you. There's no comfort in watching...