The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break
- 2 Jul 2026
- 9781837264018
- £9.99
- 320 pp
- 135×204mm
- 6 Aug 2009
- 9781847676993
- £7.99
- 320 pp
In a few words
An unusual and unforgettable take on what it means to be an outsider, an outcast, a misfit
In a few words
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
Sad, funny, disturbing – and strangely true
Anthony Bourdain
A wry, melancholy, beautiful first novel . . . The language is everywhere precise and graceful . . . Genius
A wry, melancholy, beautiful first novel . . . The language is everywhere precise and graceful . . . Genius
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
More about
the book
UNSETTLING ~ WRY ~ TENDER
An unusual and unforgettable take on what it means to be an outsider, an outcast, a misfit.
Five thousand years after having escaped Crete, the Minotaur finds himself deep in the American South, living in a trailer park and working as a line cook at Grub’s Ribs.
He leads a lonely life observing the haphazard human goings on around him, trying in vain to put his flesh-devouring past behind him. Socially inept, he is at best tolerated by mortals. But as his life dissolves into chaos, this broken and alienated immortal awakens to the possibility for happiness and capacity for connection.
More about
the book
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.
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
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
At once ugly, tender and hopeful . . . Sherrill's Minotaur allows for allusive readings but remains rootedly among us
Exceptional . . . Steven Sherrill uses M as the vehicle for a finely observed and compassionate portrayal of humanity in all its guises
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
At once ugly, tender and hopeful . . . Sherrill's Minotaur allows for allusive readings but remains rootedly among us
Exceptional . . . Steven Sherrill uses M as the vehicle for a finely observed and compassionate portrayal of humanity in all its guises
As Updike did with small-town pep rallies and broken-down cars, Sherrill finds a descriptive paradise in the mundanities of the Minotaur's reality: the rhythms of the restaurant kitchen, the mysterious pleasures of auto repair, even the stench of rotting dog at the trailer park, are palpable . . . Wise and ingenious
Steven Sherrill
View profileSteven Sherrill is the author of five novels, a collection of poetry and a banjo laden Minotaur heavy memoir. He earned a community college welding diploma and an MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Recently retired from Penn State University as Professor of English and Integrative Arts, he may spend the next decade making puppets.
stevensherrill.com
Steven Sherrill
View profileSteven Sherrill is the author of five novels, a collection of poetry and a banjo laden Minotaur heavy memoir. He earned a community college welding diploma and an MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Recently retired from Penn State University as Professor of English and Integrative Arts, he may spend the next decade making puppets.
stevensherrill.com
