“Some of you were wiser, taught by elders who knew better. There is no safety,” sets
the stage for Molotov Cocktails, Pipe Bombs & Other Family Recipes, a new collection of poetry &
prose from award-winning, nationally recognized poet and humorist Richard “J” James Girard II.

A 20-year veteran of the Tampa Bay spoken-word and music scene and a veteran of the United States
Air Force, Girard is a writer, essayist and photographer whose work examines moments and the people
and places that comprise them.


In Molotov Cocktails, Pipe Bombs & Other Family Recipes, Girard turns that lens both inward and
outward. The deeply personal collection follows the artist’s journey from naivety to disillusionment,
cynicism and political activation. Part personal history, part cookbook, part political call-to-arms, the
collection presents what Girard describes as a manifesto disguised as a poetry collection, tempered
throughout by dark humor and an eye toward the absurd.