The Man, The Myth, The Legend by Chris Orcutt

by Chris Orcutt

Voted by IndieReader as one of the Best Indie Books of 2013.

A collection of entertaining and unique stories about 10 men, The Man, The Myth, The Legend explores the idea that while men may come from very different walks of life, at root they are more alike than they seem, grappling with the same issues and facing the same dilemmas: love, lust, adultery, greed, pride, ambition, revenge, death, and a desire for their lives to mean something.

From the emotionally poignant to the outrageously humorous, these stories dramatize the lives of a wide range of fascinating men:
- African big-game hunter
- Writer and bond salesman
- Homicidal violinist - Road sign "engineer"
- Bootlegger
- Global grain explorer
- Corporate speechwriter
- Professional dogcatcher
- Fine arts painter
- Civil War general

In the award-winning story "The Bootlegger," an ordinary man goes to extraordinary lengths to provide for his family during the Great Depression. In "The Blonde Imperative," a modern man contends with something all men have since the beginning of time-gut-wrenching temptation. And in "The Lost Dispatches of General George B. McClellan," an infamous Civil War general reveals the pitiful but hilarious depths of his own self-deception.

Brimming with action-adventure, ample humor, and clean, picturesque writing, The Man, The Myth, The Legend combines the compelling narrative drive of great movies ("What happens next?") with the gemlike beauty of the short story form.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Chris Orcutt is a professional writer with over thirty years of experience and more than a dozen meticulously crafted novels to his name.

Born in Maine, he has spent most of his life in New York. He attended college in Boston, graduating summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a degree in philosophy. His professional writing career began at Taconic Newspapers (where he was honored by the New York Press Association), followed by freelance reporting for the Poughkeepsie Journal, New York’s oldest newspaper.

In his 20s and early 30s, while honing his craft as a fiction writer, Orcutt earned a living as a high school American Studies teacher, college writing instructor, and speechwriter. His earlier fiction—including the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series and One Hundred Miles from Manhattan—has earned praise from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews.

For over a decade, Orcutt immersed himself in ’80s teen culture and shunned the internet in monastic devotion to his magnum opus, Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome, a 9-book episodic novel debuting in January 2026. Writing drafts on typewriters and vintage computers, blasting everything from A-Ha to ZZ Top, and drinking enough coffee to fill a swimming pool (seriously), he set out to craft an authentic and fearless exploration of the suburban teenage experience in 1980s America. The result prompted one cultural historian to dub him “Lord of the ’80s” and another “The American Tolstoy.”

He loathes bad writing, stoplights, Grammarly, and pretentious people—but loves old movies, Peanuts comics, Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, and cross-country skiing. Orcutt lives quietly in New York’s Hudson Valley with his wife and Muse, Alexas, and their dog Dashiell Hammett.
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Reviews

[Alexas Orcutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always wondered what goes on inside a man's mind. These funny and smart and stylishly written stories shed some light on that mystery. Of course, men may read this book and say, "Yep, I feel that way sometimes too." Especially heartbreaking is the story "The Bootlegger." Read it, trust me.