{"product_id":"9781556596988","title":"Snakedoctor","description":"\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom church barn to apple orchard, from snow-covered pasture to secret moonshine cabin, Manning’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ci\u003eSnakedoctor \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ereinvigorates the Kentucky pastoral through poems that find light in shadow, good in evil, love in a father’s stinging blow.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMaurice Manning returns to the Kentucky countryside in his eighth collection, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ci\u003eSnakedoctor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Existing between haunting memory and pastoral dreamscape, this quiet collection showcases\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eManning’s storytelling at its finest. Simple, four-beat lines hold epiphanies—“the barn is just an empty church”— and announce visits from seven-foot strangers named Mr. True. Here, God is reimagined as a “serious banjo player” who calls the world to sing. And sing Manning does. Through rhyme, blues, and haiku, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ci\u003eSnakedoctor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e trains our ears to hear music in the mundane, to find beauty all around us: in the annotated margins of a well-read book, the flight of a father’s shadow puppet, the yellow centers of daisies. Punctuated by rain’s pitter-patter on a tin wash tub, and the “ring of lonely” in a farmer’s voice as he calls his cattle home, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ci\u003eSnakedoctor\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis a collection that will leave you wanting to dog-ear its pages. From childhood to fatherhood, church barn to apple orchard, moonshine to moonbeam, we leave these poems understanding Manning’s wish: “I wanted to make a prayer and I did, \/ in half-sleep after the dream.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maurice Manning","offers":[{"title":"Copper Canyon Press |  Paperback \/ softback | Trade paperback (US) |  2023-11-24","offer_id":44230048645375,"sku":"9781556596988","price":26.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0329\/9075\/7001\/files\/BNCImageAPI_51b1ab25-5766-45e7-9ce2-10948568bcaa.jpg?v=1692993116","url":"https:\/\/riverbookshop.com\/products\/9781556596988","provider":"River Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}