Folio of the 1993 Vinyl Edition of Penelope
This deep blue vinyl folio of Judy Malloy's its name was Penelope constitutes the original packaging for the hypertext novel. Because vinyl retained moisture, it caused the pages of the booklet bundled with the floppy disk to stick together and leave a residue on the folio cover. At the time of its use, there were also concerns that it would affect the durability of the floppy disk, though experiences with the works packaged in vinyl folios do not support this theory.
The work's title provides two important insights into the narrative that readers come to realize as they experience the work. The word "its" suggests an object rather than a human being, and "was" hints to a past. Indeed, the blue sailboat functions in the story as a symbol of the protagonist's innocence, a time when she and her family lived with her grandparents while her father was away at war. Likewise, the story unfolds as memories—bits and pieces of images, experiences, and feelings captured in lexias accessed through the work’s generative and hypertext functionality.