Thrilling Tales of Modern Men: Stories

by Danny McBride

From the beloved creator and star of The Righteous Gemstones and Eastbound & Down comes a wild collection of short stories featuring Danny McBride’s signature dark humor.

There are many sides to Danny he starred as the iconic character Kenny Powers in the cult classic HBO show Eastbound & Down, a series he also wrote and created, just as he did with Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones. He’s produced horror films (Halloween) and starred in sci-fi ( Covenant). But ever since he was young, he’s been writing short fiction, and it’s always been private. Until now.

There’s a washed-up sitcom actor who takes revenge on the coyote who killed his dog. There are two young runaways who decide to part ways, but not before one last big adventure. There is The Modern Age Town of Southern America National Park, which boasts the most realistic reenactments of suburbia since the disaster happened. There is an amateur magician who gets in way over his head with a deadly stunt in a local mall.

These stories take viciously unexpected tragic and comedic turns. While each one is addictively unpredictable, when taken together, these darkly funny, strangely emotional, and occasionally brutal tales provide an indelible look at the fragile masculinity of modern American culture.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Humor, Book Club, Comedy, Literary Fiction

368 pages, Hardcover

Published June 23, 2026

About the author

Daniel Richard McBride is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, director and producer. Known for his unique acting and writing style, the accolades he has received include nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and four Satellite Awards.

Reviews

[Sadie Hartmann]

If you enjoy Danny McBride's humor and you're a fan of his character work on shows like, The Righteous Gemstones and Vice Principals, this is for you. The stories are really well written and original. They're fucking hilarious, actually.
And you have to do the audiobook because there are so many famous comedians and actors doing the voice work:
AUDIO TABLE OF CONTENTS
-The Illusionist, read by the author
-RoboCare, read by John Goodman and Edi Patterson
-The Vicious Kind, read by Eric André
-The Book Burner, narration by the author, with Shea Whigham as Dwayne, Billy Crudup as Marcus Mel, Cassidy Freeman as Linda, Sam Rockwell as Tony Riggs, Adam Devine as Brendan, John Goodman as the Professor and Grocery Store Manager, Edi Patterson as the Student, G-Unit and Waitress, and Eric André as Taxi Driver, Publishing Executives, and Reporters

-The Institute of Men, read by Shane Gillis
-Last Night of the Runaway Adventure, read by Sturgill Simpson
-Gerald’s Wife, read by Edi Patterson
-Mr. Liptrapp’s Sword, read by Shea Whigham
-Fun Run, read by Adam Devine
-Dad’s Way: A Hilarious ’90s Sitcom, read by Walton Goggins

Enjoy!!

[Curtis]

I think this is what the kids these days mean when they call something "peak". This book knocked it out of the damn park! The opening novella was perfect, chef's kiss, and the rest of the stories coasted off the goodwill it generated. It's one of the best audiobooks I've ever encountered, with voice actors ranging from Walton Goggins and John Goodman to even Eric Andre, who gave a beautifully unhinged performance of a mental breakdown.

It says these stories are for men, but Danny McBride is such a sex symbol that obviously the ladies will want to read it as well, and they're more than invited! It's time to reclaim the Manosphere from all the creepy little incels, kick the misogynists out and make it about re-embracing a love of badass storytelling. We can have a Manosphere with women in it, right? It can't only be dudes who are sick of how sanitized modern media has grown.

[Cassie]

If people don’t care and that makes me not care, then the not-caring people have won. Fuck the not-caring people.

I’m a huge fan of Danny McBride, so when I heard he was releasing a short story collection, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. And then when I saw the line-up of narrators for the audiobook, I’m pretty sure my face became an exact replica of that Vince McMahon meme – you know the one I mean. The stories are read by Danny himself, along with, among others, pretty much the entire cast of The Righteous Gemstones, including Walton Goggins and John Goodman.

Anyway, I’m hugely grateful to NetGalley for the ARC of Thrilling Tales of Modern Men, but waiting for the audiobook felt necessary. And unsurprisingly, all of the narrators were incredible, but they also had some phenomenal material to work with. This is an excellent collection of short stories.

The stories range from comedy to tragedy to absurdist, classic Danny McBride humor mixed with reflective and thoughtful insights and occasional moments of brutality and darkness. They are so unpredictable, so original; at no point in any of these stories did I know what direction they would take. I was wrong-footed and completely engaged the entire time. If you are familiar with Danny’s work, you know how equally charming and off-putting his characters can be, and those are the kinds of characters you’ll find in these stories. Through them, Danny explores modern manhood and masculinity in all its glorious fragility, and I couldn’t get enough.

I will say that the first half of the collection is stronger than the second half; the first several stories had more meat to them. My favorites were actually the first three: “The Illusionist,” “Robocare™,” and “The Vicious Kind.”

If you are a Danny McBride fan, Thrilling Tales of Modern Men feels like required reading (or listening). I had such a good time with this.

[Jillian B]

This is a collection of often funny stories all dealing with themes of manhood and masculinity. I really enjoyed how imaginative these stories were, with some featuring great twists. I would love to see a novel from this author!

Thank you to the publisher for giving me access to an eARC of this book.

[Austin Sill]

A lot of celebrities write books, and most of them, even those rare ones who are talented writers in music, TV, and film, end up merely writing about themselves, and more often than not, a ghost writer does the heavy lifting. But Danny McBride is the real fucking deal. These stories hold up against giants of short fiction like George Saunders. In fact, they bear a strong resemblance to his work in their incisive satire and doggedly flawed and desperate characters.

McBride’s stories all revolve around (mostly) male characters who are in crisis, seeking self-actualization via self-destructive choices. The stories range from wildly satirical to deeply existential and melancholic. Most are a combination of both, just like his amazingly unhinged TV shows. They explore the broken humanity that dwells behind the most absurd choices and pursuits. They remind us that life is hard, and we are all kind of manic and terrified, and it’s okay to laugh about it, cause life is also short and its insanely hard to feel any measure of real control.

As John Lennon wrote, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

I wrote a brief note on each story after finishing.


The Illusionist- Classic McBride. Man hilariously attempts to overcome his insecurities post-divorce by attempting a “stunt” in the local mall where he lives in a suspended, glass box for a month. 5/5

RoboCare: Elderly man is forced to have a robot caretaker by his privileged children. More male insecurity ensues. 5/5

The Vicious Kind: Man faces a series of small challenges to his masculinity that culminates in a sublimated outburst against a boat. Very McBridian. 5/5

The Book Burner: This one features at least three fragile, male egos colliding with one another as they each seek self-actualization and significance when a famous author’s books become the target of an outraged, would-be arsonist. It’s got a touch of magic realism and one of the most visceral sequences in the book so far with an escaped tiger at a carnival. 4/5

The Institute of Men: A classic little speculative fable about the anxiety of aging, specifically balding. Like many of the stories, it has strong George Saunders vibes, perhaps more so than any other so far. I keep finding it oddly unsettling and yet encouraging how much I find myself relating to the various neurotic attributes of the men in these stories. 4/5

Last Night of the Runaway Adventure: by far the most sentimental and endearing story thus far. Strays away from satire for a moment to tell what amounts to the epilogue of a classic coming of age adventure. Moving and melancholic. 5/5

Gerald’s Wife: feels like something straight out of Righteous Gemstones. Manic characters. Erratic and neurotic behavior. Social and existential anxiety. Hitting the same notes as most of the stories have so far. Good, just less memorable. 3.5/5

Mr Liptrapp’s Sword: two men become embroiled in a deadly conflict over a big, powerful, magic sword. Hmm. Hard not to read it as an allegory for dickmeasuring given the rest of this book… also, the characters research the civil war and its set amidst what were battlefields of that period, so… men… war… phalluses… there’s something there. 4/5

Fun Run: most forgettable and most unhinged and silly. 3/5

Dad’s Way, A Hilarious 90’s Sitcom: another poignant and sad tale about nostalgia and the existentialism of middle age and beyond. Powerful ending. 5/5

[Nick LeBlanc]

It's an interesting dilemma when a famous person writes fiction, especially one with as singular a voice as Danny McBride. I've long been a fan of what he does; he can almost always get a laugh out of me in any performance. But the difficulty of being a writer with such a distinct style is that it can be an extremely potent flavor note that someone can pick out in almost any stew, particularly if that reader is already attuned to the frequency. There were even moments in David Gordon Green's Halloween movies that I'd be willing to throw dollars down came from McBride's pen. In this case, a concentrated dose of McBride-ian (or McBride-esque) storytelling, it functions as both a strength and a weakness.

The strongest moments are when he takes a few steps away from outright comedy, with VICIOUS KIND and LAST NIGHT being the standout examples. Here, McBride weaponizes his talent for writing immature and self-doubting characters. Much of the collection is built around the anxious flailing of American men who feel their masculinity challenged, which does a number on their sense of purpose and ends with ludicrous and often absurd results.

But in these two stories, there is a sense of loss and loneliness that in one case toxifies and in the other results in an existential melancholy. The familiar dashes of McBride's humor and narrative voice are used well here, adding to the work rather than distracting from it.

VICIOUS KIND is well-formed and self-contained, a piece worthy of publishing. LAST NIGHT is almost there; a few structural changes and it would have been a real knockout. McBride's sense of character is so charming that I found it slowly creeping up my list and tooling around in my head at unexpected moments. Though with a little more craft it could have been effectively sharpened, it was a tale that left me wanting more for these people. And you really can't complain about that.

In other cases, like ILLUSIONIST and INSTITUTE OF MEN, his voice becomes a distraction. We can hear Jesse Gemstone and Kenny Powers saying the lines, and whatever interesting literary stuff might be going on (which isn't necessarily a lot in some of these entries) winds up getting lost.

Generally, this is a mediocre collection of entertaining short fiction with three really good tales, four fun if forgettable stories, and three clunkers. At best, it can hopefully convince some TV-focused non-readers and fans of comedy to pick up a book they otherwise might not.

There are laughs in it, which isn't the easiest thing to pull off with only words on a page. There is also action, plenty of cringes, and some insightful, if ultimately unserious, bits of perspective on the failings of modern American masculinity. I liked it well enough.

McBride is an extremely gifted comedic performer who wields a genuinely novel and fascinating combination of toilet humor, melancholy, and sentimentality. Is he the next great novelist? Probably not. Would I have read this on my own if I wasn't already a fan and hadn't been graciously provided with an ARC? Almost certainly not. But I'll give his next book a go, and I will absolutely watch whatever he puts out after that.

Also, great cover art! Though, the collection would have benefitted from not having his likeness infused into each in-text illustration. Some added distance from the author as a subject would have probably helped, at least, this is the case for me.

Stories Ranked:
1. The Vicious Kind
2. Last Night of the Runaway Adventure
3. The Book Burner
4. Gerald's Wife
5. Mr. Liptrapp's Sword
6. Fun Run
7. Robocare
8. Dad's Way
9. The Illusionist
10. The Institute of Men

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with an ARC.

[Max Kelly]

ARC - thanks for the opportunity!

This was fun! I really enjoyed the vignettes, especially because they were all pretty well fleshed out. There wasn’t much that was left unanswered or disappointed me, which isn’t always the case.

I’ve never been one for a “short story” collection, and even though there were a few, I didn’t connect with, I think that McBride was also really skilled in his structure. I can’t remember specifically, but in the last fifth of the book, there was a moment where the two storylines merged, and it felt incredibly natural and cohesive.

One of my own missteps was with my perception of the word “thrilling” in the title. I was almost under the impression that many of the tales would be of outstanding and impressive and notable men, but some of the characters in the story were scumbags. And I love that! I just didn’t expect that when I began.

I’d recommend if you like exciting (and sometimes feel good) short stories. It definitely was an easy read to want to come back to again and again. Also, quite nice to have plenty of one-sitting sized stories.

[Devon Gilbreath]

3.5⭐️
Listen, some of these stories are 5 stars. Peak Danny McBride humor. Others land closer to the 2 star range. Not bad, just not great.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC of Thrilling Tales for Modern Men! While I had an ebook copy, I jumped at the chance to listen to a part of the audiobook when it released today. Any fans of The Righteous Gemstones will know what a superb narrator lineup this has: Danny McBride himself, Walton Goggins, Edi Patterson, JOHN GOODMAN! And others. Lol

My favorite story in the collection is RoboCare, one of the stories narrated by John Goodman. You can bet I fired up Spotify to listen to that one even after I’d already read it.

My recommendation is if you’re a Danny McBride fan, 🤚🏻 absolutely give this a try. But I’m convinced the audiobook is the way to experience it.

[Patrick]

I got this book almost on a whim, not expecting much from it. It seemed to me that it was likely to be a Hollywood vanity project type of thing, a guy who’s had success in one area and figures he can make a few bucks selling his hobby on the side. Plus, it had a kick-ass cover and title, so at the least it would look cool in my bookshelf. I could not have been more wrong (about the writing, that is - it does indeed look kick-ass on my bookshelf).

This book was absolutely hilarious, like break out into a fit of giggles alone in my living room funny. The writing is unmistakably McBride, and will be immediately recognizable as such to fans of “Eastbound and Down” or “The Righteous Gemstones.” That could maybe be expected, but what was a bit surprising was how much heart many of the stories contained. Each one was hilarious in its own way, but really did make you feel something for the characters, even when they were being obnoxious assholes. McBride’s characters all get their bravado from deep-seated insecurity, but they also possess an uncommon self-awareness. The book’s title is partially tongue in cheek, but also pretty accurate. Many of the tales are thrilling, and this is how modern men behave, for better or worse.

Thoughts on each story below, but the entire collection is phenomenal and the most fun I’ve had reading in a long time.

The Illusionist - Perfect Danny McBride character. Greg the Illusionist is the perfect blend of Kenny Powers and Jesse Gemstone, the bravura and swagger with a self-awareness lacking in his real-life prototypes. The story mixed in his patented absurdism with down to earth reflections on modern life. A perfect first story for the collection, already exceeding my expectations.

Robocare - Entertaining story about a personal care robot. It could make an interesting episode of ‘Black Mirror.’ It goes about as you expect, but the ambiguity around the robot (does it feel and act accordingly, or does it just take its instructions too far?) makes it especially interesting considering we’re not far from this type of a future, if it isn’t here already. I also appreciated the nod to ‘Alien’ in the robot’s milky white fluid.

The Vicious Kind - I love his use of waiting until a few pages into the story to put the title up in big, bold letters. Makes the preceding portion feel like a cold open, and the mundanity of the immediately preceding conversation (complaining about a neighbor) makes it hit so ironically. It’s like the cold open to ‘Cabin in the Woods’. Knowing McBride is a horror movie fan, feels intentional.

He is so funny, and has such an innate understanding of the fragility of modern manhood. The way the protagonist (Seth) in this story is slowly getting more and more frustrated with the little indignities of his life (wife as breadwinner, laid off from job he’d worked at for nearly two decades, the slights of dickhead neighbors/people out in public, money troubles) is laid out perfectly. The fact that he actually has a pretty good understanding of it all, but his healthy perspective doesn’t stop the slights from eating away at his manhood is too real. You can know the right thing to do, but it’s not that helpful when 5,000 years of evolution are telling you to flip the fuck out. When he finally does, it’s a disaster for everyone.

A hilarious and well-observed story.

The Book Burner - An interesting look at a mentally disturbed man and the attachment he formed with a moderately successful writer. Not my favorite of the book, but engaging and insightful nonetheless.

The Institute of Men - A guy realizes he’s losing his hair, and engages with a sketchy company to do something about it. He gets results, but at what cost? This one was a lot of fun, but a little half-baked. I’d be interested in a more fleshed out version of the story that really gets into the conspiracy and mechanics of the sketchy company and their product. As it is, it leaves you wanting more. Still some great insight into male insecurity and the way we allow doctors or other “respectable” professions to just do things to us so as not to offend or appear rude.

Last Night of the Runaway Adventure - Surprisingly heartfelt and honest exploration of what life might be like for a couple of runaways.

Gerald’s Wife - Funny short story about the worst woman in the world. She gaslights and belittles her friends and husband constantly, like one of those “POV: On a Date with the Worst Girl Ever” Instagram videos. Short and sweet.

Mr. Liptrapp’s Sword - Fun short one about a history teacher who discovers a cursed sword at a civil war battleground site. The sword slowly reveals its dark power to him. Really fun, would actually love to see this one expanded.

Fun Run - A guy meets an unhinged sociopath at a business conference, and ends up running for his life at gunpoint. Twisted and hilarious in a way only Danny McBride could dream up. Reminiscent of Ashley Schaefer from East Bound. Would make a great episode of “The Creep Tapes.”

Dad’s Way: A Hilarious 90s Sitcom - A Full House-esque show has a reunion episode, and we see the lives of a group of past their prime actors. Interesting to try and parse where McBride’s sympathies lie. On the surface, you’d think with Mike Gotts, the actor, given we largely get the story from his perspective. But he seems to also provide sympathy to both the show’s deceased creator as well as the staff who get put out when a show is cancelled for ostensible creative reasons, which he would also know quite a bit about given his career.

Either way, it’s an interesting and engaging story and a nice end to the collection. I also appreciated the name drop from ‘Last Night of the Runaway Adventure’ when one of the boys is watching TV in the cabin. Always nice to give stories a shared universe.

[Yaya]

Short stories done well!

Ten short stories. Ten men. Ten very different situations. And somehow, every single one managed to hold my attention.

What I appreciated most about this collection is that the stories feel complete. They are short, but they never feel rushed or underdeveloped. Each protagonist is dealing with something different, and the variety keeps the collection moving while still giving each story enough room to make an impression.

Some of the stories even had me wondering what happened to these characters after I turned the page. And for me, that's a sign of a successful short story. If I'm still thinking about a character after their story ends, you've done something right.

The collection explores divorce, aging, family dynamics, hair loss, family tragedy, and social relationships, among other subjects. Some stories are funny, some are thoughtful, and others leave you sitting with the characters a little longer than expected.

My favorites were The Illusionist, Robocare, The Book Burner, The Institute of Men, and Gerald's Wife. Each one stayed with me for a different reason.

Writing a good short story is no small feat. You have limited space to introduce characters, establish a world, create conflict, and leave an impression. Danny McBride manages to do all of that without making the stories feel like abbreviated versions of something larger.

Highly recommend this collection, especially if you're new to short stories and want to start with a collection that demonstrates just how much can happen in a small number of pages.

Thank you, NetGalley, Danny McBride, and Penguin Random House for the ARC. All comments and opinions are my own.

[talia ♡]

#blessed to receive an arc of these highly anticipated short stories from one of the funniest and hottest men who i would leave any relationship for just to have a chance with him (the other exceptions are bob odenkirk, johnny knoxville, and glenn howerton)

[Matt Harms]

The book is good. The audiobook is excellent.

[Sim1]

Short stories that fill you with suburban dread; Shirley Jackson would approve.

[Nick Bruno]

This is a must read for any Danny McBride fan. So many of these characters felt like they were straight out of Eastbound & Down. The short stories were a perfect blend of comedic and heartfelt. Funniest and most enjoyable book I’ve read in a long time.

[alexis]

“That made Burt laugh. Ben would totally freak out if he blew a bum’s head off and the blood splattered on him. That’s totally something he could picture Ben doing. Ben, still on the road. Maybe all the way to California by now. Maybe even killed a man.

He missed Ben.”

Danny McBride has such a clear, consistent comedic voice that if you like his shows, you WILL like these. A genuinely very funny collection that’s rife with expertise on struggling, soon-to-be divorced men in over their heads, loser dads pinning their misdemeanor crimes on their sons, and guys who shouldn’t own a gun revealing that they do in fact own a gun. The second short story, RoboCare, felt the weakest to me, but he enters his flow state during The Illusionist, The Vicious Kind, and parts of The Institute of Men (the substance for boys).

Stylistically he’s definitely still writing for the screen, so it was hard not to picture Edi Patterson and Walton Goggins alongside him. Also I JUST looked up the audiobook cast and I feel extremely validated right now

[kera rodshuf]

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨3.5 Stars

This is a satirical tale of short stories in which we often follow many types of men, often with many shortcomings, and they all usually think they’re better than they are.

This is a hilarious reflection of the “modern man” and its making fun of them in a tasteful way. I was hesitant because usually misandrist media makes me feel hypocritical, but this really was tasteful.

Some of the stories were simply better than others, “The Institute of Men” was the most entertaining and my favorite by far.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House🤍

[Angela]

I didn’t even notice or connect who the author was to this book before I started to read it. I decided to read it based on the cover and title alone. Like many of my other books, I switched back and forth between the audio and the text. While listening to part of the book, the narrator seemed familiar. After the 2nd short story, I looked up who read each story. Only then did I find out who the author was. I’ve watched The Righteous Gemstones and Vice Principals and enjoyed both, but couldn’t say I follow or really know much about Danny McBride. If you randomly asked me who he was, I wouldn’t know until you showed me his picture. That changes as a result from reading this book. I mention this because I began reading this book with no presumption. I thought the book might be like Saunders’ Pastoralia.

Like full music albums,with short story collections, there are usually a few additions I enjoy enough that the rest of the stories get pulled along and tolerated. It’s rare for me to enjoy more than about 3 stories per collection. This book didn’t feel that way: few stories I could do without. That said, I do have my favorites.

My only critique is that some of the end stories were not quite as entertaining as the beginning ones (but still good), and I wish I could buy an edited version without the swearing so I could read some of the stories with my High School English classes.

Oh - Also - I cannot recommend the audiobook more. It would shock me if not nominated for an audible award for a multicast. Listen to the audio.
Buy the book too. Look at the structure, the pictures; they add a dimension you will miss without seeing it.
So very good.

Is this my first 5 star book this year? Not quite. There was Night (which I first read years ago) and Broken Country. Another favorite this year, though not quite a 5, Yesteryear.

[Naomi Birenbaum]

I truly adore Danny McBride. He is on my comedian Mount Rushmore that includes Tim Robinson and Conan. This book feels like a blooper reel of unseen plot lines from his shows or premises for entirely new ones. Some stories stayed with me more than others (The Illusionist & Institute of Men were my faves).

Danny’s strength has always been lovable idiots, which he nails here. He is exceptional at pinpointing the earnest, wholesome thinking within characters that come off as absurd and/or dumb (or at least naive/ignorant). He is empathetic without compromising humor, and his signature vernacular never fails to make me giggle!!!

The audiobook cast is so incredible that I felt bad listening to it for free.

[Ben Eastman]

4.5 stars

Man this is great, Danny McBride really has the juice. He has such a knack for writing losers who idealize shallow masculine goals, and this book is full of em. Dives a lot deeper into the insecurities and deeper fears of modern men: losing your hair, getting fat, wasting your life, not being cool anymore. So many of these guys are chasing something that doesn’t exist for them anymore. Really love the parts where they re-negotiate with themselves for the less glorious but more needed parts of manhood. And this crap is funny too!

[Alex Robinson]

Fans of Danny McBride’s funny TV work will be familiar with his brand of insecure blowhard main characters. The audio book features McBride and a ton of famous guest stars (most of the Gemstones supporting cast)

[Kentucky]

A very strong set of stories with no duds. My personal favorites were Mr Liptrapp's Sword and The Vicious Kind!

[Dana]

if eastbound and down ever made you cry a little this book is for you. mcbride understands how sad and gross we all are (but especially men).

[Slim B]

Took me longer than anticipated to finish but my GOAT delivered again. Read these characters in Danny McBride's voice and delivery. Few laugh out loud moments and some fire stories. Could see myself rereading for sure - light rip.

[Patrick Bowlby]

This was awesome. Would love if HBO let Danny McBride make this an anthology series

[Annalisa]

I feel I should add at the start that I listened to the audiobook and its incredibly well done. There were excellent actors involved in this and its hard to say if that made the stories better than they'd be just reading the writing. I highly recommend the audio. That aside, I really enjoyed these stories. There were a lot of moments that really made me laugh. Great humor. Thats not surprisingly with who the writer is. There was also a lot of heart and emotion and sometimes relatability too. I have some favorites but all were really good. There wasn't one I disliked. It was a great collection. I wasn't sure what to think going in but I listened to one story and just couldn't stop.

[Ellie Lopez]

If there’s anything Danny McBride is gonna do is tell a fucking story. Excellent

[Emmett LiCastri]

Fun & easy to read collection of unique short stories. Would love for Danny McBride to continue writing!

[Joshua K]

I wanted to love it but I found it to be mostly derivative and just not funny! But what do I know, I’m an old fart.

[Adam Sill]

In his collection of short stories, Danny McBride provides a poignant and hilarious commentary on topics such as toxic masculinity, celebrity culture, body dysmorphia, and the fragile male ego (just to name a few). This collection is on par with some of my favorite works of fiction, proving that while McBride is an exceptional comedic actor, his greatest gift is his capacity as a storyteller. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook for this compilation as it flaunts an impressive cast of A-List actors which includes icons like Sam Rockwell, John Goodman, Walton Goggins, and just about all of McBride’s Righteous Gemstones costars. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this collection and I cannot recommend it enough.

[Carrie]

This short story collection brilliantly captures the angst and anxiety felt by a certain breed of modern men who feel like the world may be moving on without them. Each story is well crafted with memorable characters put into sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking situations that push them to their breaking points. My favorite was Last Night of the Runaway Adventure.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC.