Product Description Ron Kolm s poems live in suburbia. He writes Average Joe poems, something like what Harvey Pekar does with comix, sharing a fairly straight class connec-tion to the meaner John Q. visions of guys like Bukowski. John Strausbaugh, author of The Village: 400 Years of Beats, Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues, A History of Greenwich Village and Victory City: A History of New York and New Yorkers During World War II Review Be it humorous or sad, complex or simple, mundane or bizarre, Ron Kolm is a master storyteller. His words grab your attention, and by the end of the book you ll be wanting more. Welcome to the Barbecue is a must-read for anyone who needs to escape from the realities of a world gone mad. Patricia Carragon, author of Innocence and The Cupcake Chronicles, and editor/publisher of the Brownstone Poets anthologies --back cover blurb Ron Kolm s Welcome to the Barbecue is a study in wistfulness in which the protagonist adopts, with good reason perhaps, the same attitude toward his ex-wife as toward global disaster. He seems wary and apprehensive in these razor-thin, laser-sharp darts of unhappy consciousness that mirror the sub-cutical angst pervasive in Trumptastic America. Our hero s characteristic gesture is grimacing at the stars, though in actuality he might be seeing the tail lights of a descending bomber. Jim Feast, author of Long Day, Counting Tomorrow and Neo Phobe --back cover blurb Ron Kolm is a superb storyteller whose signature style of wit and irony shines through in this new edition of Welcome to the Barbecue. Crisp lines of verse unveil magic and sensual suggestion that will leave you remembering his suburban and city scenes: snippets of conversation, rooms filled with music, a book tossed overboard putting diamonds briefly in the sea. Ron sculpts rich settings accented by nature and human interactions. You will want to revisit such gems as The Human Condition, Neighbors, and Carpe