Thrilling Tales of Modern Men is a collection of short stories by Danny McBride. As the title suggests, the protagonists of the stories are modern men, and each is facing some conflict in the contemporary world. It’s tempting to say that some of these conflicts are unique to the world today, but I’m not sure that’s true. Certainly, the problems many of the characters face resonate, but issues like Greg the Illusionist’s search for meaning are pretty timeless.
Either way. I liked the book a lot. I like Danny McBride’s brand of humor, and the characters feel like they easily could live in the world of The Righteous Gemstones or Eastbound & Down. And for as crass and crude as the humor is in many of them, the stories themselves feel surprisingly (?) optimistic.