Book Reviews: March 2015

The Oldest Living Things in the World
Rachel Sussman (The University of Chicago Press)

This is my favorite photography book of the past year—in part, because it’s so well written. As the title suggests, Sussman, a Baltimore native, found and photographed the oldest continuously living things on the planet, all of them at least 2,000 years old. From underground forests in South Africa to map lichens in Greenland, she produces fascinating images. Bonus: Sussman’s narrative of her travels is equally compelling.

Geo-Poe
Various Contributors (CityLit Project/Eight Stone Press)

Geo-Poe originated as a geo-caching scavenger hunt in which 14 Poe-inspired stories were hidden in canisters around the city. Clues were given via social media, and Poe fans went looking, but some canisters proved hard to find, while others were stolen. This publication remedies the original project’s shortcomings by gathering all the stories into an easily findable zine format. I especially enjoyed Dean Bartoli Smith’s unexpected foray into local sports history.