Note:  This is another in our series of Staff Guest Reviews.  This review is by Jennifer, another invaluable member of our circulation team.  You’ve likely encountered her friendly, familiar face at the front desk at the library—she’s been here at UDPL for several years.

A book that I enjoyed recently is Deep Down Dark by Hector Tobar. The author is a journalist who interviewed the thirty-three men who were trapped for sixty-nine days in a Chilean mine in 2010. Their entombment was caused by a collapse of a section of the mountain which blocked the mine’s transportation system, burying the men 2,000 feet below the earth’s surface. Hector Tobar vividly conveys the conditions with which the men had to cope — the heat, humidity, darkness, and dust. In addition, the men were near starvation for the first two weeks until contact was made with the surface and food could be sent to them. The miners’ experiences, emotions, and relationships below ground and the anguish of the families and rescuers above ground are rivetingly told by Tobar. The book does not end with the miners’ rescue, but it continues to relay how the men dealt with their fame and near-death experiences.