Morning Edition Book Club Selects Its First Read

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Here is a plausible New Year's resolution - read more. Maybe, like many resolutions, that promise would come to nothing. But if you like to read, there is a way to make space for it - you join the MORNING EDITION book club, which we call Morning Reads. Our first book was selected by author Ann Patchett.

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ANN PATCHETT: Now I'm somebody who cries maybe once every two years. I'm just not a crier, but I cried when I read this book.

INSKEEP: The book she picked is "Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories Of 33 Men Buried In A Chilean Mine And The Miracle That Set Them Free." The author is Hector Tobar. He tells the true story of a 2010 disaster and how the world expected the worst when this news broke.

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UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: A rescue effort underway at a gold and copper mine in Chile since Thursday now suspended after a second cave-in.

INSKEEP: But the story changed dramatically. Hope surfaced more than two weeks after the cave-in in the form of a note attached to a drill bit.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, BYLINE: The note said all 33 of us are fine in the shelter, rescuers say...

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MELISSA BLOCK, BYLINE: Tonight is the night at the San Jose Mine. Rescue efforts are set to begin for 33 men who've been trapped...

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ANNIE MURPHY, BYLINE: Florencio Avalos, the first miner out, emerged near midnight on Tuesday, in a narrow, metal cage that had been named the Phoenix.

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INSKEEP: For Ann Patchett, the miners' story is universal.

PATCHETT: What is your life worth when you are right up against death for a prolonged period of time, then who do you become? What do you care about? What are your values?

INSKEEP: We want to hear questions like those and more from you. Join our book club by reading "Deep Down Dark" and then tweet us or post on MORNING EDITION's Facebook page. We're going to put some of your questions to Hector Tobar when he joins us on the program for our book club discussion on January 20. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.