Text and paratext in Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves

Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves has succeeded in placing itself between the two traditionally incompatible genres of the avant-garde and the popular, this largely due to Danielewski’s use of literary experimentation that should have placed it at arms length from popular culture. What is so interesting about House of Leaves is thus the tension between text and paratext, authenticity and fiction, and the structure through which all of these themes are presented. That is, in the concept of the ever present ‘house’ as tale and, most importantly, as an intensely visual text