Paperback
Anxious redhead’s hilarious, poignant, and sordid quest for enlightenment and pleasure.

The Red-Headed Pilgrim

$40.07

  • Paperback

    242 pages

  • Release Date

    24 January 2023

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Summary

Provocative, poignant, and resoundingly hilarious, The Red-Headed Pilgrim is the tragicomic tale of an anxious red-head and his sordid pursuit of enlightenment and pleasure (not necessarily in that order).

On a sunny day in a business park near Portland, Oregon, 42-year-old web developer Kevin Maloney is in the throes of an existential crisis that finds him shoeless in a field of Queen Anne’s lace, reflecting on the tumultuous events that brought him to this moment. Growing u…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781953387288
ISBN-10:1953387284
Author:Kevin Maloney
Publisher:Two Dollar Radio
Imprint:Two Dollar Radio
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:242
Release Date:24 January 2023
Weight:289g
Dimensions:15mm x 140mm x 191mm
A-Format
The Red-Headed Pilgrim by Kevin Maloney - ISBN: 9781953387288
140 × 191 mm
B-Format
C-Format
A4
mm / in
What They're Saying

Critics Review

“It’s hard to write an honest book. It’s even harder to write an honest book that is charming, hilarious and doesn’t make the author sound like a crusty, tower-dwelling sage.”
—Mila Jaroniec, Southwest Review

“In the throes of an existential crisis, a middle-aged web developer renounces his humdrum life in Portland, Ore., and embarks on a cross-country trip, finding love, meaning and a new life on the coast of Maine.”
—New York Times

“Like his indie lit peer Scott McClanahan, Maloney’s writing is deeply indebted to Vonnegut’s mix of heartbreak and humor, but The Red-Headed Pilgrim’s emulation of Slaughterhouse-Five’s opening chapter isn’t just for show; its placement points to the central question of the book: Is it possible to separate your own narrative from the ones you discovered in your formative years?”
—Kevin M. Kearney, The Millions

“Despite how often he screws up, you just can’t help pulling for him. The Red Headed Pilgrim is one of the funniest and fastest flying books you could ever read and may just appeal to the repressed Jack Kerouac living secretly inside of you.”
—Tony Alcantara, The Colorado Sun

“Maloney’s revisionist treatment of Western themes make The Red-Headed Pilgrim the offspring (dare I say red-headed step-child?) of the Acid Western genre. And I don’t believe it’s overly generous to say that The Red-Headed Pilgrim is the next iteration of the Western, one with enough music and heart to propel the genre into the twenty-first century and beyond.”
—Nick Gardner, Cleveland Review of Books

“Somewhere between the hysterical realism of Zadie Smith and the sexy, witty misfits of a Tom Robbins novel.”
—Brock Kingsley, Chicago Review of Books

“Tender and uproarious… Maloney writes in a casual, self-deprecating style, befitting the swapping of stories across a bar top or kitchen table. Possessing a keen eye for detail, his prose is jam-packed with memorable characters who pop off the page and can’t help but make the wrong choice, time and time again.”
—Sheldon Birnie, Winnipeg Free Press

“The Red-Headed Pilgrim is a revelation that achieves starry dynamo-level energy from the jump. Maloney’s prose is sharp and vivid, full of trippy precision, and his story is funny, wild, painful and wise. When the road of On the Road runs into shattered middle age, this book is waiting for you.”
—Sam Lipsyte, author of Hark and The Ask

About The Author

Kevin Maloney

Kevin Maloney is the author of Cult of Loretta and the story collection Horse Girl Fever. At times a TJ Maxx associate, grocery clerk, outdoor school instructor, organic farmer, electrician, high school English teacher, and teddy bear salesman, he currently works as a web developer and writer. His short stories have appeared in Hobart, Barrelhouse, Green Mountains Review, and a number of other journals and anthologies. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

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