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Rating: 
Summary: Continued praise for Cave Passages
Review: After finishing this book for the second time, I again felt the pang of loss for having the pages not continue. A blend of caving, philosophy, and caving philosophy, his work gives one pause for finding meaning in one's life. I for one am jealous of the karst regions he has been fortunate to explore. Telling about those exploits is handled with style that doesn't get in the way of the story itself. I'm sure others would enjoy this book. I do.
Rating:
Summary: Continued praise for Cave Passages
Review: After finishing this book for the second time, I again felt the pang of loss for having the pages not continue. A blend of caving, philosophy, and caving philosophy, his work gives one pause for finding meaning in one's life. I for one am jealous of the karst regions he has been fortunate to explore. Telling about those exploits is handled with style that doesn't get in the way of the story itself. I'm sure others would enjoy this book. I do.
Rating: 
Summary: I was hoping for more....
Review: Caving is a fascinating sport, but this book didn't captivate me as I hoped it would. Eleven of the 22 chapters had little or nothing to do with caving (the author just wandered-off on tangents...96 pages worth); that was a disappointment. The chapters which did talk about caving (the other 156 pages) were well written and very descriptive. The book was 252 pages long (the other 30+ pages included a glossary, index, appendix, etc.). I also purchased a book called "The Longest Cave," but I haven't read it yet; I'm hoping it'll be better.
Rating:
Summary: Enter the fascinating world of caving.
Review: Come visit Michael Ray Taylor's underground world and explore some of the last great wilderness on earth without leaving the safety and comfort of your armchair. This collection of short stories on caving takes you around the world to some of the most exotic caving regions. Michael's easy and casual style of writing puts you right in the action. One can easily imagine how tight the Devil's Pinch must be, and what those rocks felt like as they squeeze you from above and below. I liked how Michael made each account personal by letting you get to know the other cavers and the local inhabitants of the region. This book is for anyone with an adventurous spirit.
Rating:
Summary: Enter the fascinating world of caving.
Review: Come visit Michael Ray Taylor's underground world and explore some of the last great wilderness on earth without leaving the safety and comfort of your armchair. This collection of short stories on caving takes you around the world to some of the most exotic caving regions. Michael's easy and casual style of writing puts you right in the action. One can easily imagine how tight the Devil's Pinch must be, and what those rocks felt like as they squeeze you from above and below. I liked how Michael made each account personal by letting you get to know the other cavers and the local inhabitants of the region. This book is for anyone with an adventurous spirit.
Rating:
Summary: Taylor caves so you don't have to
Review: In this irresistable book, Taylor shares his passion for caving in easy-going prose that never falters. He takes us all over into all kinds of caving situations, and the result is simply fascinating. What's more, Taylor never falls prey to the immodest "boy-am-I-ever-cool-and-macho" style that afflicts some who write about their awesome adventures. On the contrary, Taylor is disarmingly candid about his occasional fears and breaches of caving ettiquette. His honesty adds to the pleasure of reading this fine little book. Although the book is never quite as lyrical as one might hope, the last few paragraphs are surprisingly bittersweet.The single significant flaw is not in the text, but rather in the lack of photographs. One wonders how a book in which great pains are taken to describe underground scenes, and in which the personalities and work of several cave photographers are described, could be virtually photograph free. It's strange and a little frustating. But this is still a delightful book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books on caving to be published in decades.
Review: Michael does an excellent job in this book describing what it is like to travel in the subterranean world of caves. He is
able to capture the imagination of the reader and transport them into his real life experiences. At times the reader actually feels like they are crawling through bat guano in some carribean cave while realizing that it is safer here than being on the surface where you might get shot at. This
is real life Indiana Jones with a little extra thrown in.
Rating:
Summary: A much needed jolt to cave literature
Review: Michael Ray Taylor sends a much needed jolt to the world of cave literature. The book is a celebration of caving for caving's sake, rather than for some loftier goal. Mike is your average guy who has an unusual hobby, one that, in another time or place would remain unfulfilled. But Mike has not only been able to enjoy his hobby immensely, he has been able to weave it somewhat into his career. In his role asa journalisthe has wormed his way onto some of the most interesting trips of the past decade and, on occasion, been present at the making of history. Michael Ray Taylor has given us that rarest of things, real life advenure, told in a down to earth, believable style. In a world of incongruous movies and unrealistic fiction, this book is worth it's weight in gold.
Rating:
Summary: Superior travel/adventure essays ...
Review: Mike Taylor is destined to join the ranks of Tim Cahill and Jon Krakauer as one of America's foremost outdoor writers. Taylor conveys his love for the sport, adventure and literary value of caving unlike any writer I've come across. His grasp of science, nature and human drama is evident on every page. Cave Passages announces the mainstream arrival of an important new voice in travel/adventure writing
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