Endless Caverns - by Douglas Reichert Powell (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For generations, enterprising people in the southern Appalachians have turned the region's extensive network of caves into a strange, fascinating genre of tourist attraction. Visitors pay admission to take a tour deep underground, learning a little about history and geology while puzzling over lit-up rock formations said to resemble anything from Niagara Falls to the Capitol dome. Then off go the lights, enveloping the travelers in total darkness -- until the guide flips them back on and welcomes folks back into the safety of the inevitable gift shop. Show caves, as Douglas Reichert Powell explains in Endless Caverns, are at once predictable and astonishing, ancient and modern, eerie and sentimental. Their story sparks memories of a fleeting cool moment deep underground during a hot summer vacation, capturing in microcosm the history and culture of a region where a deeply rooted sense of place collides with constant change.

Reichert Powell takes readers along on his journey through the past and present of Appalachia's show caves, highlighting the characters who have owned and operated them, the ways the attractions have developed and changed over the years, and the odd intrigue that still leads people to buy their ticket and head underground. Tourist tastes may shift as interstates whisk travelers past the backroads and on to trendier destinations, but the show cave -- like Appalachia itself -- endures.

Review Quotes

"Endless Caverns is a personal odyssey of the author's travels through Appalachian show caves. A well-written book that will appeal to readers interested in Americana, the development and management of show caves, and the history of the Appalachian region."--CHOICE

"[Powell] weaves narratives of his visits with archival research to create a regional history that demonstrates how caves are a vital part of Appalachian memory. . . . Endless Caverns is thoroughly researched and indexed; like its subject, it is both serious and whimsical."--Tennessee Libraries

"Powell leaves no caving-related topic unexplored. . . . Reading the book was like talking to an acquaintance who is able to share his love of a particular topic and make us love it too. Anyone interested in the cultural history of the Southern Appalachian region, or anyone with even the most remote interest in caves, should pick up this book."--Journal of Appalachian Studies

"Richert Powell is an engaging and often hilarious writer with a passion for show caves and all of the people that make them possible. He is a meticulous historian, an acute and often daring ethnographer, but most of all an audacious and creative storyteller."--West Virginia History

"Weaving personal narrative with biographical sketches, history lessons, and insightful questions about the nature of being human, . . . [Powell's] book will inspire readers to visit a few show caves and, as the tour guide turns off the lights, reflect on how human nature, history, culture, and the physical world we inhabit are so closely tied together."--Georgia Library Quarterly

About the Author

Douglas Reichert Powell is associate professor of English at Columbia College Chicago.