"A town at the bottom of a reservoir. A covert military installation. A downsized Olestra plant. Sites like these rarely appear on street maps. But they are windows into the American psyche, landmarks that manifest the rich ambiguities of the nation's cultural history." "The Center for Land Use Interpretation draws us into such places, serving as a kind of curator of the American landscape, and a tour guide, helping people understand this vast and complex country." "Here, drawing on more than a decade of work, the Center for Land Use Interpretation reflects on how the nation's lands have been parceled out, put to use, and understood. Seeking out "the unusual and the exemplary," it takes us through ghost towns and show caves, past soap and shoelace factories, to open pit mines, casinos, landfills and art installations. We see the dry lakes where atomic bombs were tested and the ersatz villages where rescue workers train for toxic spills and other disasters." "The Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore may loom large in the American imagination and draw the crowds. But the unsung places like those chronicled in Overlook have at least as much to say about American society, if not more. This, after all, is the America where we live."--Jacket.

Introduction / Matthew Coolidge -- Circling the center / Ralph Rugoff -- Round on the edges : let's look at Ohio -- Terrestrial miniaturizations : shrinking big in a small world -- Subterranean renovations : the unique architectural spaces of show caves -- Under water : intentionally drowned towns -- Practiceland : places playing places -- Federaland : America's internal fringe.