Given our ever-shrinking attention spans, you would think that the short story would be enjoying a surge in popularity, but for whatever reason it hasn’t materialized. It’s a shame too, as a good short story can sometimes convey its message better than a novel. With their relative brevity and concision they can more easily elucidate a point and are perfectly suited to set up a clever punchline. This past week I’ve gotten to enjoy two collections that both serve as great examples of the form, one by a highly lauded author and another by a newcomer, and each well worth your time.

The Frenzy by Joyce Carol Oates

I’m somewhat ashamed to say that I have heretofore never read the works of Ms. Oates. Having finished her enthralling and thought-provoking latest story collection, I now see what I’ve been missing out on. She is often considered to be a horror author, and these stories do contain a certain eerie feeling reminiscent of the genre, but for the most part the only thing these characters—and in turn us—have to fear are their own racing thoughts.

In effortlessly elegant prose, Oates takes us into the minds of a disparate group of people as circumstances and decisions send their seemingly stable existences into chaos, with their own reactions often only serving to make matters worse. Exploring aging, memory, trauma, and the fragility of our own egos, in particular in regard to notions of masculinity, there is a lot to unpack here, but above all else these tales entertain. These compulsively readable stories of psychological suspense offer up a dark and poignant mirror to our lives, exposing their very precarity. This is a masterful collection without a single weak entry. ★★★★★

Thrilling Tales of Modern Men by Danny McBride

There is no shortage of low-quality books by actors convinced of their own genius. Luckily, Danny McBride’s debut collection isn’t one of them. As the title suggests, this book is more explicitly concerned with societal expectations of masculinity, in particular the more toxic of them. But where Oates’ tales have a timeless feel, McBride’s are distinctly more timely.

McBride’s writing isn’t up to par with Oates’, though I expect few are, and as the book progresses the stories grow more intent on entertaining than offering up societal commentary, but the early tales proffer a pretty scathing indictment of the expectations placed on modern men, both by themselves and society writ large—though primarily the former. Given his penchant for comedy (this is the man who brought us Eastbound & Down, The Righteous Gemstones, and Vice Principals), the frequent laughs scattered throughout the collection will come as no surprise, but much of this material leans more towards his interest in horror (he also wrote the latest Halloween trilogy) and even some near-future sci-fi.

Some of the stories resonate more than others, but none are bad, and even if none feel outright brilliant they all at least engage and amuse. ★★★★