Route 66 has been called the Mother Road, America's Main Street and the Dust Bowl Highway filled with angst and wrathful grapes.

Now award-winning author Thomas Arthur Repp wields a ringmaster's baton to point out how U.S. Highway 66 was also the Road of Wonders.

Route 66: The Empires of Amusement takes an in-depth look at the old road's carnival roots. It revisits and reconstructs those establishments that sprang up along the highway to serve simple entertainment. It pays an overdue tribute to early curbside impresarios who dared to dream candy-apple dreams.

Repp works closely with owners, operators and grown children of Route 66 tourist attractions. He sets down the histories of these establishments in a style nostalgic and lively. These are stories of reptile houses, show caves and prairie dog towns. They are tales of entrepreneurs who earned quarters with piano-playing chickens and motel proprietors who struck deals with traveling snake men.

Families of roadside entertainers have graciously shared photographs from their personal albums. Their generosity makes possible a book filled with never-before-published peeks at the workings of Route 66 roadside attractions—and the people behind the elbow grease who invited a nation's travelers to play.

So put on your cave suit and pump out the Submarine Room. Break bread with the Talking Crow of Pontiac. And save a Zingo or two for the Supernatural Raccoons.

About the Author

Thomas Arthur Repp has spent eight years traveling Route 66 and working with the families of the early American roadside. He is a veteran writer and photographer whose previous book, Route 66: The Empires of Amusement, has been called "a rare and precious glimpse into an American yesteryear" by the Midwest Book Review. Born near Detroit, he received his M.F.A. from the University of Washington. He is a former resident of Los Angeles, Chicago and Tucson, Arizona. He splits his time today between the Seattle and Detroit areas.