Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle that Set them Free - Softcover

Hector Tobar is the son of Guatemalan immigrants and a native of the city of Los Angeles. He is the former Buenos Aires and Mexico City Bureau Chief for the LA Times and shared a Pulitzer for the paper`s coverage of the 1992 riots. He is currently an LA-based columnist for the paper. He is the author of the critically acclaimed novel, The Barbarian Nurseries. www.hectortobar.com

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 * It's almost hard to believe that Hector Tobar wasn't himself one of the trapped Chilean miners, so vivid, immediate, terrifying, emotional, and convincing is his Homeric narration of this extraordinary incident. Deep Down Dark is a literary masterpiece of narrative journalism, surgical in its reconstruction, novelistic in its explorations of human personality and nuance. In a manner that feels spiritual, Tobar puts himself at the service of his story, and his fidelity to and unquenchable curiosity about every fact and detail generates unforgettable wonderment and awe. * Francisco Goldman * In this masterful dissection of the 2010's dramatic sixty-nine day ordeal by thirty-three trapped Chilean miners, Hector Tobar weaves a suspenseful narrative that moves back and forth between the waking nightmares of the buried men, and those of their families on the earth's surface. In Deep Down Dark, Hector Tobar takes us deftly to the very cliff-edge of human survival. * Jon Lee Anderson * Hector Tobar takes us so far down into the story and lives of the Chilean miners that his reconstruction of a workplace disaster becomes a riveting meditation on universal human themes.Deep Down Dark is an extraordinary piece of work. * George Packer * ..fascinating... (The ) narrative cracks along at a suitably breathless pace * Irish Mail * Riveting... Tobar vividly narrates the miners' lives post-rescue as they come to terms with their life-changing experience and the media frenzy surrounding it. Rich in local color, this is a sensitive, suspenseful rendering of a legendary story. * Publishers Weekly, Most Anticipated Books of 2014 * Riveting . . . The best book I've read all year. * Ann Patchett * . . . an eloquent testament to the human spirit. * The Times *