So I was looking at my bookshelf the other day, wondering what to read next, and my eyes lit on Brucker and Borden's "Beyond Mammoth Cave". I've had it for years, every semi-serious caver probably does, and probably they've all read them more than once.

Not me. Just once. See, for the past several years, going on five, I haven't even set foot underground. True, I'm far past the sort of condition to be crawling around in the mud anymore, and my circle of caving friends has shrunk vastly as a result. But I still have all my gear—even the stuff that doesn't work anymore. I suppose I could still put on some old clothes, fire up a lamp and get back underground…

Or not. Geez, I am busy these days. A free weekend is rare indeed.

But yes, frankly, the urge is still there. This is something I did so enthusiastically for so long, so I guess it's only to be expected. And I do still have the books, a lot of them, collected over the course of thirty years, and to get to the point of all this, "Beyond Mammoth Cave" is one of the better ones. You would expect this from a writer with the talent (and credibility) of Roger Brucker, he of "The Caves Beyond" and "The Longest Cave" and "Trapped: The Story of Floyd Collins" fame. Brilliant works, all. Jim Borden was an unknown quantity initially, but no worries, pretty much all the cavers I ever met have been awfully literate, if perhaps not always so forthcoming with their stories (try editing a Grotto newsletter and prying trip reports from them…you'll find out what I mean) so I expected at least an entertaining read, and I was not disappointed.

This is the story of what happened AFTER that "final" connection told of in "The Longest Cave", which of course was hardly final. The Mammoth Cave area is just lousy with caves and sinkholes and ridges and it was only to be expected that more could and would be found, and that the chance would be pretty darned good that they'd eventually connect to the Flint-Mammoth System. They could, they would, they did…many times over. Jim Borden tells the story from the Toohey Ridge/Roppel Cave side, the independent cusses who wouldn't be forced into joining the vast underground Mammoth mega-system. Brucker handles the CRF side, the folks working over in Mammoth Cave. Both tales are gripping, not just from the point of view of a caver and the inevitable adventure aspect, but from the personal sides as well. And it's not just a "why the hell do they do this?" question as much as a, "how do they live normal lives?" THAT is what makes "Beyond Mammoth Cave" so relentlessly fascinating for me. While I have never met Borden, I have met Roger Brucker, and I found him as interesting and engaging as you would guess from his writing. I looked to him with something akin to awe, and when I did get to speak to him, all I could really say was, "Thank you."

Well, that wasn't all I said, of course…it was more along the lines of, thanks for helping me get involved in something I have loved for so long. He seemed genuinely touched, as if someone in his family had come home. But families have struggles and conflicts, and sometimes they get ugly. Brucker doesn't tell EVERYTHING he might, but he does relate at least one deeply humbling point of his life, and it had to just wrench at him to do so. If you read "The Longest Cave"--I mean, REALLY read it--you already had a clue, but you never picture your heroes as being anything but perfect. Well, surprise. Roger Brucker is human!

That's what makes this book so much better than its predecessor. Being as the stories are more nakedly personal--and told from the first person, generally (the person is identified at the beginning of each chapter) you tend to get the feeling that it all means so much more. It's not just a story being told, it's a sequences of events in a person's life being related, events which meant something to the person doing the talking. It's beautifully done, and laid together gently, almost lovingly. Which is only right, considering the passion involved in those who lived the story...so much passion, in fact, that they are willing to lie, cheat, and even steal in their pursuit of it. Yes, those sorts of stories are here too. It's a really remarkably honest book, both Brucker and Borden alternately coming off as at times heroic, and then in turn selfish and self-centered, depending on how you read things. But never mind. I applaud their candor.

In terms of graphics: there are a few pictures, but they're nothing to write home about. If you've ever been caving you have hundreds, probably thousands of similar shots, and with the exception of the connection shot there's nothing really remarkable here. The artwork, though, done by Linda Heslop, really is something special and helps tie everything together. I have enjoyed her work in caving publications in the past and it was a stroke of genius bringing her in for this work.

So chances are you know the story, and you know how it all ends. Of course though, it doesn't really end, it's still going on, probably even as I write this. Additional lengths of passage are being discovered and mapped, caves are being connected, sumps dived. It never stops. Five hundred miles? A thousand? I suppose anything is possible, isn't it?

An essential document of exploration history, to be read and enjoyed for many decades to come. ( )