The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break
Steven Sherrill
Available as Paperback, eBook
A wry and lyrical take on what it means to be an outsider through the lens of one of mythology’s most monstrous creatures: the Minotaur
Five thousand years after leaving the Cretan Labyrinth, the Minotaur – or M as he is known to his colleagues – is working as a line chef at Grub’s Rib in Carolina, keeping his horns down, trying in vain to put his past behind him. He leads an ordered lifestyle in a shabby trailer park where he tinkers with cars, writes and re-writes to-do lists and observes the haphazard goings on around him. Outwardly controlled, M tries to hide his emotional turmoil as he is transported deeper into the human world of deceit, confusion and need.
“A wry, melancholy, beautiful first novel … The language is everywhere precise and graceful … Genius”
guardian
See more reviews
“Beautifully detailed and honed … a poetic testament to the wild, unchartable experience of human loving … Sherrill’s vision is at once melancholy and deeply affirming. Somewhere in M’s inchoate mass of sensation there exists a sharp spark of hope”
observer
“Immaculate … Sherrill is a beautiful writer … he finds the drama to keep you reading, your heart in your mouth, to the conclusion’s defiant roar of hope”
telegraph
“At once ugly, tender and hopeful … Sherrill’s Minotaur allows for allusive readings but remains rootedly among us”
independent
“Exceptional … Steven Sherrill uses M as the vehicle for a finely observed and compassionate portrayal of humanity in all its guises”
irish Independent
Steven Sherrill
Steven Sherrill is the author of five novels and a collection of poetry, and is an Associate Professor of English and Integrative Arts at Penn State Altoona. He earned an MFA in Poetry from Iowa Writers’ Workshop and was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Fiction. His work has appeared in Best American Poetry, the Kenyon Review and the Georgia Review. He lives in Pennsylvania.
stevensherrill.com
