{"product_id":"beyond-repair-living-in-a-fractured-state-9781597094368","title":"Beyond Repair: Living in a Fractured State","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 2011, my family was in a major car accident. We were hit head-on by a man in the throes of a heart attack. It took three years to recover from our injuries, and a couple more to deal with the aftereffects of trauma. When I finally returned to the world -- as father and husband, friend and brother, writer and citizen -- it became clear that our society was in its own traumatized state -- reeling from the string of police shootings of unarmed African Americans, stunned by yet one more mass shooting. The people around me were displaying all the signs of PTSD -- jumpiness, irritability, numbness -- and, concordantly, my interactions out in daily life were becoming more dysfunctional, at times downright hostile. Us against them. Red vs. blue. Black vs. white. Rich vs. poor. That we were living in a progressive town inside a conservative county in the Mountain South only made things more volatile. I decided that if we were all living in a fractured society no longer recognizable, then it was up to me to re-engage in it. I would enter into encounters with people as conscious as possible of the potential divides and misunderstandings between us. I started with my neighborhood and town, then moved out into the counties around us, then traveled further out into the country. My goal: to connect.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMatthews, Sebastian:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSebastian Matthews\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of a memoir, \u003cem\u003eIn My Father's Footsteps\u003c\/em\u003e, and two books of poetry, \u003cem\u003eWe Generous \u003c\/em\u003eand\u003cem\u003e Miracle Day\u003c\/em\u003e. His hybrid collection of poetry and prose, \u003cem\u003eBeginner's Guide to a Head-on Collision\u003c\/em\u003e, won the Independent Publisher Book Awards' silver medal. Matthews is also the author of \u003cem\u003eThe Life \u0026amp; Times of American Crow\u003c\/em\u003e, a \"collage novel in eleven chapbooks.\" His work has appeared in or on, among other places, the \u003cem\u003eAtlantic\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBlackbird\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eCommon\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eGeorgia Review\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePoetry Daily\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePoets \u0026amp; Writers\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eSun\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eVirginia Quarterly Review\u003c\/em\u003e, and the \u003cem\u003eWriter's Almanac\u003c\/em\u003e. Matthews lives in Asheville, North Carolina. Learn more at sebastianmatthews.com. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Red Hen Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50370375483666,"sku":"9781597094368","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_4b263777-722c-4c7f-9553-3fcfd09e9d22.jpg?v=1728532169","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/beyond-repair-living-in-a-fractured-state-9781597094368","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}