George Landow's widely acclaimed Hypertext was the first book to bring 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 in a strikingly literal embodiment of many major points of contemporary literary theory, particularly Derrida's idea of "de-centering" and Barthes's conception of the "readerly" versus "writerly" text.

"Landow['s]... presentation is measured, experiential, lucid, moderate, and sensible. He merely points out that the concept 'hypertext' lets us test some concepts associated with critical theory, and gracefully shows how the technology is contributing to reconfigurations of text, author, narrative, and (literary) education."― Post Modern Culture, reviewing the first edition