Fuccboi

A Novel

By: Sean Thor Conroe

Narrated by: Sean Thor Conroe

“Got under my skin in the way the best writing can.” —Sheila Heti

A fearless and savagely funny examination of masculinity under late capitalism from an electrifying new voice.

Set in Philly one year into Trump’s presidency, Sean Thor Conroe’s audacious, freewheeling debut follows our eponymous fuccboi, Sean, as he attempts to live meaningfully in a world that doesn’t seem to need him. Reconciling past, failed selves—cross-country walker, SoundCloud rapper, weed farmer—he now finds himself back in his college city, trying to write, doing stimulant-fueled bike deliveries to eat. Unable to accept that his ex has dropped him, yet still engaged in all the same fuckery—being coy and spineless, dodging decisions, maintaining a rotation of baes—that led to her leaving in the first place. But now Sean has begun to wonder, how sustainable is this mode? How much fuckery is too much fuckery?

Written in a riotous, utterly original idiom, and slyly undercutting both the hypocrisy of our era and that of Sean himself, Fuccboi is an unvarnished, playful, and searching examination of what it means to be a man.

“Sean Conroe isn't one of the writers there's a hundred of. He writes what's his own, his own way.” —Nico Walker, author of Cherry

Critic reviews

“Got under my skin in the way the best writing can.”—SHEILA HETI

“Blazes a sonic trail through the tangles of experience. A contemporary künstleroman—a coming of age of an artist. So much about the struggle to find a nourishing and communally beneficial but still honest and not self-suppressing way to be a man.”—SAM LIPSYTE, author of HARK

“A completely unique voice . . . sounds like no one I know.”—SCOTT MCCLANAHAN, author of THE SARAH BOOK

“Conroe delivers a striking and hyper-stylized debut about a young male writer, also named Sean Thor Conroe, whose lexicon reflects Drake lyrics and the scrolls of Reddit and Twitter. . . Along the way, Sean demonstrates a passion for Nietzsche, Bolaño, and Wittgenstein. . . An undeniably rich mix of ingredients for autofiction.”—PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY

For the 20-something who hasn't figured it out

I found this book browsing for Asian American fiction and was blown away by the unique craft, voice, and story. As the subtitle suggests, it deals seriously with what it means to be masculine when you're also broke as hell and trying to be woke / progressive in a real way that's not just virtue signaling.

The story itself centers on the grind / struggles of the protagonist, named after the author, as he tries to process the failure of his last relationship, make enough money to eat, write and publish his book, and treat his health problems with his limited means. Along the way, we meet a revolving cast of "baes" and "bros", who challenge, help, and sometimes knock down our hero. The story structure itself isn't the standard 3act, instead it's episodes that take place between 2017-2019.

The narrative voice is the thing I found most pleasantly unique about this work. The prose reads like a "fuccboi", complete with all the slang, references, and attitude that I recognize in myself and my friends of similar backgrounds, and something I haven't before read in serious literature: the prose of the SoundCloud rapper, weed dealer, and podcast-obsessed bro. As such, the author's own narration performance is perfect for the audiobook, and it sounds confessional and authentic in a way that no one but the author himself could pull off.

Lastly, the issues discussed are those relevant to every adult who just doesn't have it figured out. How to be an artist when it doesn't pay, how to reckon with your manhood when we live in a culture of patriarchy and female oppression, and how to navigate Asian American cultural identity when it's doesn't fit any of the models people are used to seeing in media. Though the book doesn't preach any answers to these questions, the struggle to engage with them seriously and dig deep until it feels too real to stop made this an easy recommend for all my friends. Looking forward to this author's long career

Interesting

Not sure this book was my cup of tea, but it was well written.

incredible pacing and beautiful descriptions

Speechless and Inspired , ready to write, feeling free, feeling seen, you held it down for the Waldorfian wigger crunchy male art hoes.

Worth a listen or read for style

It’s an interesting style. There are some moments that felt really well done. But getting thorough the novel felt tiresome for me. It’s not a compounding story; when we get to the end, things can feel flat and like, what did I leave this experience with? The politics of the work also feel really juvenile at times. Worth listening as a change of pace if you read a lot of literary fiction.

Groundbreaking

Could not stop thinking about it even when I wasn’t listening. You know you’re hooked when you see there’s 7 hours left and your heart skips a beat. I didn’t want it to end.