Danny McBride to publish darkly comic short story collection on masculinity

Danny McBride is bringing the swaggering, self-destructive men that have defined his screen persona onto the page. His first short-story collection, Thrilling Tales of Modern Men, arrives as a 368-page hardcover priced at $30 and built around darkly comic stories that, in Penguin Random House’s words, probe “the fragile masculinity that has become an inescapable part of modern American culture.”

The book fits squarely within the comic terrain McBride has spent years mapping on television. He became known for playing loud, overconfident characters in Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones, series that turned macho behavior into both spectacle and social critique. He has also co-written the Halloween film trilogy and appeared in films including Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express and Alien: Covenant. That background gives this collection a sharp edge: McBride’s comedy has always depended on exaggeration, but it works because the bravado keeps cracking under pressure.

The stories in Thrilling Tales of Modern Men widen that approach. Among the characters are an amateur magician who gets in over his head while attempting a deadly stunt in a local mall, a washed-up sitcom actor seeking revenge on the coyote that killed his dog, and two young runaways on one last adventure. Together, they point to a recurring McBride obsession: men trying to stage authority, then revealing how little control they actually have. The book was written between seasons of The Righteous Gemstones, and it is set for release on June 23, 2026, in hardcover, audio and e-book editions. The audiobook will be narrated by McBride himself.

The publishing rollout underscores the confidence behind the project. Random House acquired North American rights from CAA, while Ebury Spotlight will publish the book in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth on June 23, 2026. Early praise from Matthew McConaughey, Judd Apatow and Sturgill Simpson casts the collection as funny, human and sharply observed, a useful reminder that McBride’s humor lands because it is rooted in recognizable insecurity rather than pure caricature.

McBride is also taking the book on the road. A Strand Book Store event in New York paired him with Edi Patterson on June 22, 2026, while Live Talks Los Angeles has him appearing with Walton Goggins in Santa Monica on June 25. A Charleston appearance is scheduled for June 29. Taken together, the book and its launch make a clear case that comic exaggeration remains one of the most effective ways to examine how masculinity is being performed, defended and mocked in public life.