Photos of Michael Joyce's "Twilight, A Symphony"
The photos of Michael Joyce's Twilight, A Symphony found in this chapter are of copies Dene Grigar owns and holds in her library in the Electronic Literature Lab at Washington State University at Vancouver.
Twilight, A Symphony CD-ROM
The paper label affixed to the CD-ROM of Twilight, A Symphony is cream-colored. The top half is dominated by five lines, imitating a blank musical staff with the letters of the title set on them the way notes would be. The letters forming "TWILIGHT" have long shadows extending behind them, as any object would at that time of day. Michael Joyce's name appears in a black box to the right. A horizontal black band directly below the center of the CD-ROM carries the Eastgate Systems, Inc. motto: "SERIOUS HYPERTEXT from" and then below it the hand-drawn arch logo and contact information (mailing address and phone numbers) of Eastgate Systems, Inc. Below that space, small text indicates that Michael Joyce holds a 1996 copyright on the work, and Eastgate Systems, Inc. holds a 1992-1996 copyright on the software.
Twilight, A Symphony Folio, Front
The front cover of the folio that holds the CD-ROM containing Twilight, A Symphony is also cream-colored with thin black horizontal lines drawn across the top half of it in imitation of a blank musical staff. Underneath a black box holding Michael Joyce's name at the very top of the cover, the letters of the title are set on these lines the way notes would be, and long shadows extend behind the letters of "TWILIGHT." On the lower half of the folio, framed in gray and about the same size as the text above it taken all together, a sepia photo of a pier extending out into a lake towards a sun that either rises or sets over the water stands alone.
Twilight, A Symphony Folio, Back
The back cover of the Twilight, A Symphony folio continues with cream-color of the front of the folio. The top third is occupied by a paragraph giving a synopsis of the novel's set-up, much like the paratext often found on the back covers of print books. Below, the title (with the shadow effect on "TWILIGHT" seen on the folio's front cover and on the CD-ROM) appears followed by a blurb that reads:
"There is nothing that has quite prepared us for the extraordinary beauty and fragility and intelligence at work in Michael Joyce's lyrical elegy Twilight. He is one of the most exciting artists at work today in any medium." - Carole Maso, author of Ghost Dance and The Art Lover.
Below the blurb is a brief biography and photo of Michael Joyce that discusses afternoon, a story and the reviews it earned in The New York Times and The Washington Post. At the very bottom of the back cover, Eastgate Systems, Inc.'s logo of a hand-drawn arch and contact information (phone, mailing address, e-mail, fax number, and website) stand beneath a listing of system requirements for use of the work and three bubble options reading "Windows," "Macintosh," and "Both." Macintosh is bubbled in with a yellow sticker. To the right of these is a bar code and ISBN number to be scanned at the point of purchase.
Twilight, A Symphony Folio, Open
The open folio of Twilight, A Symphony features, on the inside front cover, descriptions and prices for works "Also by Michael Joyce," including his hypertext novel afternoon, a story, his book of theory about hypertext Of Two Minds: Hypertext, Pedagogy, and Poetics, and his print novel The War Outside Ireland. In these materials quotes praising afternoon from major publications, like The Washington Post, are bolded. Below, copyright information states that Michael Joyce owns the copyright for Twilight and Eric Cohen designed the jacket. The Eastgate Systems, Inc. hand-drawn arch logo and contact information (phone and fax numbers, e-mail, website, mailing address) rest at the bottom of the inside cover, below the copyright text. Across, on the facing page, the title Twilight, A Symphony stands, with faint shadows extending behind TWILIGHT, below Michael Joyce's name which is written in white letters in a black box.
Twilight, A Symphony Folio, Front and Back
The front and back of the folio for Twilight, A Symphony features the front and back covers and the very narrow spine that reads (from top to bottom) "Michael Joyce, T W I L I G H T, Eastgate Systems Inc." with "T W I L I G H T" placed at the center and Joyce's named bolded.