Chris' Fish Place

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

                This book actually starts with a “do not do this at home” type of warning label because it is a book of photographs about abandoned buildings which are not only dangerous but also, in some cases, illegal to enter.

                But the photos are stunning. The book is divided into types of buildings, and includes schools, hospitals and even a ballroom where Duke Ellington, among others, played. There is even a picture of what looks to be an attempt to make the Yellow Submarine, one that seemed to end in failure.

                There are also pictures of pigeon droppings that look like stalagmites (just ick!) as well as bones of various critters.

                And there is a picture, a rather charming one, of a live raccoon.

                Each chapter’s introduction has a brief history of the building as well how the community’s relationship to it has changed over time. Despite the short length of these introductions, there is quite a bit of information and further information is given by the captions to the photos.

                Many, if not all of the photos, are worthy of an art exhibit. Some are wonderfully framed by plant life; others make startling use of light. All make the reader think of abandoned buildings and how nature reclaims them as well as how they are abandoned in the first place, and perhaps

                It is a rather beautiful and haunting book.