Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

The only drawback to Resurrect Dead is where to file this true-life who/why-dunit. Art documentary? Crime? Occult conspiracy? In the 1990s, Philadelphia courier Justin Duerr began to notice odd objects embedded in the city's pavement: multi-colored, homemade plaques hardened into the asphalt, with hand-carved letters spelling "TOYNBEE IDEAS IN KUBRICK'S 2001 RESURRECT DEAD ON PLANET JUPITER." Duerr finds that the cryptic "Toynbee message" is not unique to Philadelphia; the tiles (along with extra notations about persecution, the USSR, and the media) also lie on busy roads in many cities, baffling passersby in areas across the United States and down into South America (the culprit is never even glimpsed gluing them down). Duerr teams up with other tile-obsessed individuals in a years-long investigation, going down blind alleys and chasing bizarre clues (one an obscure David Mamet play) to solve...what exactly? Publicity stunt? Guerilla art project? Political manifesto? Even Duerr, an art-school dropout and backer of "outsider artists," starts to look like a suspect in this wild tale. While the Toynbee message (and its creator) are ultimately deciphered, getting there makes for one memorable yarn in this excellent example of stranger-than-fiction storytelling. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)