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Book Summary and Reviews of Deep Down Dark by Héctor Tobar

Deep Down Dark by Héctor Tobar

Deep Down Dark

The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free

by Héctor Tobar

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  • Oct 2014, 320 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The exclusive, official story of the survival, faith, and family of Chile's thirty-three trapped miners.

When the San José mine collapsed outside of Copiapó, Chile, in August 2010, it trapped thirty-three miners beneath thousands of feet of rock for a record-breaking sixty-nine days. Across the globe, we sat riveted to television and computer screens as journalists flocked to the Atacama desert. While we saw what transpired above ground during the grueling and protracted rescue, the story of the miners' experiences below the earth's surface - and the lives that led them there - hasn't been heard until now.

In Deep Down Dark, a master work by a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, Héctor Tobar gains exclusive access to the miners and their stories. The result is a miraculous and emotionally textured account of the thirty-three men who came to think of the San José mine as a kind of coffin, as a "cave" inflicting constant and thundering aural torment, and as a church where they sought redemption through prayer while the world watched from above. It offers an understanding of the families and personal histories that brought "los 33" to the mine, and the mystical and spiritual elements that surrounded working in such a dangerous place.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Rich in local color, this is a sensitive, suspenseful rendering of a legendary story. " - Publishers Weekly

"Starred Review. A gripping narrative, taut to the point of explosion ... An electrifying, empathetic work of journalism that makes a four-year-old story feel fresh" - Kirkus

This information about Deep Down Dark was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Marganna King

Book Club Worthy
I enjoyed this book totally. Well written, and although I knew the outcome the author kept me engaged with the story & the people involved. I saw Hector Tobar speak in Seattle - he has a twinkle in his eyes & a smile that would endear him to all he spent time with to tell their stories without hype, exaggeration or over dramatization. It's a suspenseful tale & I look forward to the movie.

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More Information

Héctor Tobar is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and a novelist. He is the author of The Barbarian Nurseries, Translation Nation, and The Tattooed Soldier. The son of Guatemalan immigrants, he is a native of Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife and three children.

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