Remember choose-your-own-adventure books? Well, they do still exist! What I just recently learned is that they exist online in a format called hypertext fiction.
I remember reading a spy choose-your-own-adventure book when I was a kid, and I just kept reading it again and again.
I still don’t know whether I got through all the storylines.
There is a hypertext fiction novel that Toronto writer Stephen Marche recently published on Walrus magazine’s website. You can find it here. (It works better on Firefox than on Explorer.)
The book is about Lucy, who wakes up to learn she’s pregnant. What happens next depends on what you decide she does next – does she get up? does she sleep in? does she go grocery shopping?
It becomes addictive as you start wondering how her fate would change if you just picked a different path at that point or at another. And to think that she either loses or keeps the baby depending on something silly like does she cross the street!
If you’re looking for something just a little bit different and fun, read this digital book.
And stay tuned for Episode 2 of Bookends. I recently interviewed the author and the episode is coming soon!
