One spring night in Western Pennsylvania, the usually dreamless sleep of a resentful man on the cusp of middle age is suddenly infested by a profound symbolism, inspiring  him to take pen to paper. His vampish ex-wife soon appears in a red spandex dress and subsequently stalks him with the intention of obtaining a Protection From Abuse (PFA) order; he has recently filed his own lawsuit regarding some shared real estate. In this work, the cast of Miami Vice, CHiPS, The A-Team, the Lone Ranger, and even one Ms. Scarlett  Johansson volunteer to help the hero on his quest — but they can only do so much. Something like hilarity ensues when a subpoena arrives for Tubbs: his past (and some profitable corporate espionage) has finally caught up to him.

Kirk “Mad Dog” Cooke (April 30, 1975) is a computer programmer and  motorcycle enthusiast. He enjoys kayaking and fly fishing and anything, really, involving the great outdoors. He was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania, where he lives with his constitutionally protected firearms and his irascible mixed-breed canine Patton. Barbary Shore is proud to bring him into the fold, even if he is no longer invited to any of our staff parties.

Kirk “Mad Dog” Cooke’s  Zelda in Spandex  is a 26 page long poem that I found intelligent, multi-layered, and laugh-out-loud funny. In fact, the only book that has given me more honest-to-goodness belly laughs in recent memory was  Shoplifting From American Apparel  by Tao Lin.

            - Jonathan Messinger, Time Out Chicago

Available for $6.00: here.