WTNY 6-5-2007 05:33
"House of Leaves"
[img]http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n4/n23284.jpg[/img]
House of Leaves is the debut novel by writer Mark Z. Danielewski, published by Pantheon Books (ISBN 0-375-70376-4). The novel quickly became a bestseller following its March 7, 2000 release, having already developed a cult following through gradual release over the Internet. It was followed by a companion piece, The Whalestoe Letters (ISBN 0-375-71441-3). The novel has since been translated into a number of foreign languages, including French, Greek, Japanese, Dutch and Italian.
The format and structure of the novel is unconventional, with unusual page layout and style typical of ergodic literature. It contains copious footnotes, many of which contain footnotes themselves, and some of which reference books that do not exist. Some pages contain only a few words or lines of text, arranged in strange ways to mirror the events in the story, often creating (paradoxically) both an agoraphobic and a claustrophobic effect. The novel is also distinctive for its multiple narrators, who interact with each other throughout the story in disorienting and elaborate ways.
House of Leaves has been described as a "satire of academic criticism."