G. P. Putnam's Sons Acquires 33 Men, A Riveting New Book by Award-Winning Journalist Jonathan Franklin, The Story of The Chilean Miners Trapped 2,200 Feet Underground for Ten Weeks

NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- G. P. Putnam's Sons President Ivan Held today announced the acquisition of a riveting new book, 33 Men, by Jonathan Franklin, an award-winning American journalist who has lived in Chile for 15 years.  He had unprecedented access to the 33 Chilean miners trapped 2,200 feet below the earth for ten weeks, their families, and the emergency personnel who ultimately rescued all 33 men alive.  This uplifting story of survival and endurance has captivated the world.  

North American hardcover and paperback rights as well as audio and eBook rights to the book were acquired in a highly competitive auction by Marysue Rucci, Vice President, Editorial Director, G. P. Putnam's Sons, from literary agent George Lucas of InkWell Management LLC in association with Annabel Merullo at PFD in London.  Putnam is planning to publish the book in hardcover in February 2011.  Berkley will publish the paperback edition approximately one year later.

33 Men is an absorbing and authoritative account of one of the longest human entrapments ever, told by a journalist with unrivaled access.  Mr. Franklin began to follow this story from the day the miners were first trapped underground on August 5th.  Most of the world had never heard of the men until they were discovered alive on August 22nd.  For a month, he lived on a Chilean hillside that was the nerve center of the entire rescue operation. While the men were still underground, Mr. Franklin interviewed them via a makeshift telephone from above ground. When the first miners were rescued on October 13th, Mr. Franklin had the first media contact with the recently released men in a series of interviews from inside the field hospital.

Mr. Franklin said, "It is a miracle that these miners survived the initial collapse, then for weeks survived off virtually no food and drank oily water from truck radiators.  This book will bring readers into the miners' world – at once a dark, dank cavern with fistfights, drugs, and fears of cannibalism; and a world where men prayed together, made decisions by communal vote and survived via a fierce determination to live.

"While 2,000 journalists were locked behind police lines, my 'Rescue Team' pass enabled me to experience up close the final six weeks of this miracle rescue.  It was my honor to watch the drama unfold in its many moments of beauty and courage and comedy; and to see, first-hand, the profound unity that made this operation succeed."

Ms. Rucci commented, "This is one of those remarkable stories that will be talked about for years.  Jonathan Franklin's eyewitness account focuses on not only these courageous 33 men and all they went through to survive, but also the countless men and women above ground whose untiring hopes and determined ingenuity enabled their safe rescue.   Putnam is proud to be publishing this book that will join the ranks of time honored titles that capture the human capacity for endurance under the most extreme conditions imaginable."

This book is comprehensive and gripping, focusing not only on the miners but on the rescue workers integral to keeping the miners alive -- from the drill operator (an American from Colorado) to the lead doctor and the lead psychologist to the miners' family members.  Mr. Franklin also examines the fateful gamble that led 33 men to work in a copper mine where workers were regularly crushed and killed but drew salaries nearly double the local norm.

Based on more than 75 interviews with miners, their families and the rescue team, Mr. Franklin combines an expert eye for detail and dialogue with the remarkable human interest story of these miners, struggling to survive in a savage environment.  

NOTE TO THE PRESS:

Jonathan Franklin has lived in Chile for fifteen years, twelve of those as The Guardian (UK) correspondent for South America.  

Granted the coveted "Rescue Pass," his dispatches from the San Jose mine ran in The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Observer (UK), and The Sydney Morning Herald.  As cameraman at the mine, he filmed exclusive footage for ABC News, CNN International, Univision and the Discovery Channel.

Fluent in Spanish, Franklin has covered events ranging from the arrest of Augusto Pinochet to the inner workings of the cocaine trade during his years in South America.    His features are regularly published in GQ, Esquire and Playboy magazines worldwide.  As co-founder of www.AddictVillage.com, Mr. Franklin travels throughout Latin America to produce reports for magazines and newspapers worldwide. His investigative reporting has been used by NBC "Nightline," CBS "60 Minutes," A&E, the BBC and numerous documentary productions worldwide.

An American who was raised in Lincoln, Massachusetts and attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, Franklin moved to Chile in 1995 and currently resides with his wife Toty Garfe and his six daughters in Santiago.

Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is the U.S. member of the internationally renowned Penguin Group.  Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and children's trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Viking, G. P. Putnam's Sons, The Penguin Press, Riverhead Books, Dutton, Penguin Books, Berkley Books, Gotham Books, Portfolio, New American Library, Plume, Tarcher, Philomel, Grosset & Dunlap, Puffin, and Frederick Warne, among others. The Penguin Group (www.penguin.com) is part of Pearson plc, the international media company.

SOURCE G. P. Putnam's Sons