The Wire | Kevin Maloney's 'Cult of Loretta'
I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Kevin Maloney at AWP this past weekend in DC. Eric told me I'd dig his book, Cult of Loretta (Lazy Fascist Press), so I asked if I could buy a copy. It happened to be his last copy on hand, so I felt very fortunate. He signed the book with a memorable quote, "enjoy the ride!" Here's a look inside Maloney's funny and emotional Cult of Loretta:
We drove from Portland to Helena in Bennie's 1964 Ford pickup, taking turns pissing in a Gatorade bottle, Loretta using a funnel rigged for the purpose. The green trees of Oregon gave way to yellow grass, high desert, and a sky like somebody cut off our eyelids. Bennie's Goat Farm was a one-acre parcel of a 100-acre lot partitioned with barbwire, distinguished by a rusted-out school bus, the strong stench of goat farts, and a hand-painted sign that read:
GET YER SHIT TOGETHER!!!
When Bennie saw the pillar of dust rising from the tires of his Ford, he stepped out of the school bus to greet us with two frothy mugs of still-warm goat's milk.
"Loretta, my often-drunk beauty queen!" he screamed.
"Bennie, my slightly-paranoid goatherd!" she replied.
She didn't even have the cab door halfway open and he'd already lifted her in the air and was swirling her around by the armpits.
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