This Side of Brightness
Author: Colum McCann
Desc: At the turn of the century Nathan Walker comes to New York City to take the most dangerous job in the country. A sandhog he burrows beneath the East River digging the tunnel that will carry trains from Brooklyn to Manhattan. In the bowels of the riverbed the sandhogs—black white Irish Italian—dig together the darkness erasing all differences. Above ground though the men keep their distance until a spectacular accident welds a bond between Walker and his fellow sandhogs that will both bless and curse three generations.