“I Wanted to Write the Book I Would Hand to My 18-Year-Old Self.” Kevin Maloney on Sex as a Spiritual Quest
In Conversation with Alex Higley and Lindsay Hunter on I'm a Writer But
Welcome to I’m a Writer But, where two writers-and talk to other writers-and about their work, their lives, their other work, the stuff that takes up any free time they have, all the stuff they’re not able to get to, and the ways in which any of us get anything done. Plus: book recommendations, bad jokes, okay jokes, despair, joy, and anything else we’ve got going on that week. Hosted by Lindsay Hunter and Alex Higley.
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In this episode, Kevin Maloney (The Red-Headed Pilgrim) talks to us about fictionalizing his own life, writing about sex, writing a book that was “like On the Road combined with Napoleon Dynamite,” working with Two Dollar Radio, and more!
From the episode:
“Because the book is modeled after books where a young man goes to find the meaning of life—he leaves his hometown and goes out seeking—I thought it would be funny to make losing his virginity part of that quest. It may start as a spiritual journey, but it becomes increasingly carnal as he goes through life. It almost becomes this Don Quixote thing where he’s slaying windmills but keeps on screwing up and not losing his virginity.”
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Kevin Maloney is the author of The Red-Headed Pilgrim, out now on Two Dollar Radio, Horse Girl Fever, out on CLASH Books in 2024, and Cult of Loretta. At times a TJ Maxx associate, grocery clerk, outdoor school instructor, organic farmer, electrician, high school English teacher, and teddy bear salesman, Kevin currently works as a web developer and writer. His stories have appeared in Hobart, Barrelhouse, Green Mountains Review, and a number of other journals and anthologies. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, Aubrey.
