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Dark poems struggling to reconcile a haunting loss and troubled present

Selected by Kate Daniels as the winner of the South Carolina Poetry Book Prize, Driving through the Country before You Are Born is the first collection of poetry from Ray McManus. The speaker in these poems searches for redemption and solace while navigating from a traumatic loss in the past to a present fraught with violence and self-destruction. The volume chronicles his attempt to glean some measure of forgiveness through acceptance of his own responsibly for his circumstances. The reader is called on to witness family stories without happy endings, landscapes on the verge of collapse, and prophetic visions of horrors yet to come. From these haunting visions, the only viable salvation is rooted in hope that, out of the ruins, there remains the possibility of a fresh beginning.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
  2. pp. 1-3
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  1. Title Page
  2. p. 4
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  1. Copyright Page
  2. p. 5
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  1. Dedication Page
  2. pp. 6-7
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  1. Table of Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
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  1. Foreword
  2. pp. ix-xii
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xiii-xiv
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  1. Go
  2. pp. 1-18
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  1. Elm Street
  2. pp. 2-19
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  1. Black
  2. pp. 3-20
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  1. Burning Caterpillars
  2. pp. 4-5
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  1. When we Came Home
  2. pp. 6-23
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  1. Orientation
  2. pp. 7-24
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  1. Boogie Man
  2. pp. 8-10
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  1. Night Sweat
  2. pp. 11-28
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  1. Gridlock
  2. pp. 12-13
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  1. Perforated Ulcer
  2. pp. 14-31
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  1. Red Barn
  2. pp. 15-21
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  1. Mother,
  2. pp. 22-39
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  1. Bitch
  2. pp. 23-40
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  1. Negatives
  2. pp. 24-41
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  1. A Short History of the Movies
  2. pp. 25-29
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  1. Hush
  2. pp. 30-47
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  1. The Accident
  2. pp. 31-48
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  1. Under the Porch
  2. pp. 32-49
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  1. What we Left Behind
  2. pp. 33-34
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  1. Pavement
  2. pp. 35-36
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  1. Dragging the Lake
  2. pp. 37-54
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  1. Partitioned
  2. pp. 38-55
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  1. Shores
  2. pp. 39-40
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  1. Condensation
  2. pp. 41-42
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  1. Oceans
  2. pp. 43-60
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  1. Settlement
  2. pp. 44-61
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  1. Transcontinental
  2. pp. 45-62
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  1. Stumps
  2. pp. 46-63
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  1. Hatchery
  2. pp. 47-64
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  1. Jonah
  2. pp. 48-49
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  1. The Long way Home
  2. pp. 50-51
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  1. Fist
  2. pp. 52-69
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  1. Toilet
  2. pp. 53-70
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  1. At the End of the Day
  2. pp. 54-55
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  1. White
  2. pp. 56-73
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  1. Expansion
  2. pp. 57-74
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  1. Propulsion
  2. pp. 58-75
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  1. Main Street at Eighty
  2. pp. 59-76
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  1. Afterbirth
  2. pp. 60-61
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  1. Post Partum
  2. pp. 62-79
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  1. Exit Wound
  2. pp. 63-70
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  1. Anniversary in Manhattan
  2. pp. 71-88
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  1. Things to Tell My Son
  2. pp. 72-89
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  1. Before Drowning
  2. pp. 73-90
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  1. It’s Ok
  2. pp. 74-91
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  1. Driving through the Country before you are Born
  2. pp. 75-76
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