Coffeehouse

An anthology of stories, poems and essays originally published on the World Wide Web. The purpose is to capture the zeitgeist of the web’s creative community, and to give readers a chance to enjoy some of the best and most notable original works that have appeared in this form.

Many of the stories that appear in this collection attempt to work within normal literary conventions, although the means of publication is nontraditional. Others take advantage of the Web’s graphic abilities to combine their literary voice with an artistic vision.

Steve Seebol’s “Very Short Stories,” for example, mixes scanned photos with graphic manipulation and terse wit. The result is a cartoon-like piece slightly farther out than Gary Larsen’s “The Far Side.”

Mark Napier’s entry, “Negative Space,” consists of sample images from his ongoing attempt to scan his entire apartment, object by object. Only a few of the works take their very substance from the forms of cybercommunication–among them the work “Flux,” which is created by a variety of artists and relies on the way words and symbols appear on-screen for its impact.

Another example is Duane Day’s satirical “Music Appreciation Flow Chart,” which lets Grateful Dead fans determine their opinions on any music without having to think.


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