The Aerialist Will Not Be Performing is a powerful collection of new poems by the Kansas poet Robert L. Dean Jr. Inspired by the paintings of Chicago artist Steven Schroeder, Dean composes poems and flash fictions that explore the basic human condition through moments of joy and loss, laughter and tears, and the beauties and burdens of aging. This is a great book of poetry, a great book of visual art, and a remarkable record of the conversation between the two.