The notion of a linogram is introduced. It corresponds to the notion of a sinogram in the conventional representation of projection data in image reconstruction. In the sinogram, points which correspond to rays which go through a fixed point in the cross section to be reconstructed all fall on a sinusoidal curve. In the linogram, however, these points fall on a straight line. Thus, backprojection corresponds to integration along straight lines in the linogram. A theorem is proved expressing the backprojection operator in terms of the Radon transform and simple changes of variables. Consequences of this theorem are discussed. A novel image reconstruction method based on the theorem is presented.