[.ca] The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break (ISBN 0312308922)

a surprising pleasure:
The surprise pleasure of this book is not because it was a pleasure--the premise/title alone promised that. The surprise is how that pleasure is attained--in the hands of probably almost any other author, the story would have been more about the trials and tribulations of eternal life, would have given us the easy set pieces--memories of Theseus, of Daedalus, scenes of being weary with living so long, etc. Instead, Sherrill gives us a work that could not be more mundanely human. It is an illuminating and quiet work of character and community. Eschewing the easy tricks he could have used means he has to work even harder to make us care, which we do. There is just enough reference to the main character's strangeness to never let you forget it; it adds a patina of sadness, humor, weariness to the basic slice-of-life scenes, embellishing them without overwhelming them, like a perfectly-spiced dish. The low-income, communal worlds of both the restaurant and the trailer park are sharply and beautifully created, the conflicts firmly rooted in human relationships. The fear the Minotaur has that his life is spiraling toward one of his perpetual downward cycles is palpable throughout and transfers itself to the reader, so that you turn the pages hoping he is wrong, rooting for him in all his desires and ambitions. The pace is slow but appropriately so. The characters, except for the main one, mundane but lovingly so. And the minotaur, half-human, inarticulate, clumsy, is all of that and the opposite. It may not be what you expect, but it's all the better for that.

New voice in fiction serves up superb starter!:
The startling collocation of the mythic "Minotaur" and the banal "Takes A Cigarette Break" in the arresting title, hints at the unusual premise set up by Sherill in his sad, funny, original debut novel locating a mythical creature - trying to jettison his gory past - in present day America's Deep South where he longs to fulfil his life and put his savage past behind him. Then: the Minotaur lived in a labyrinth and ate virgins. Now: five thousand years on, the Minotaur, M, bull-headed but man-bodied, lives in a trailer in the Lucky-U Park. The novel, written in an understated style from M's alienated perspective, is essentially a slice of M's humdrum daily existence: in the rundown trailer park where he lives an orderly life observing the ordinary, everyday comings and goings, and goings-on, in the adjacent trailers, repairing cars in his spare time; and in the Grub's Rib diner where he works as a line chef. What primarily made this novel so enjoyable for this reader - where there's no real story as such, no real incident or surface activity to speak of and little character development - is Sherrill's excellence in evoking the atmosphere of ordinary everyday life in both M's domestic and working habitats, the trailer park and the diner. An accomplished cook, skilled in car maintenance, M finds greater difficulty interacting with people. Slow-witted and clumsy with his sharp horns, thick-tongued and inarticulate, socially awkward, emotional turmoil burning within, M deperately seeks an outlet for his human needs, a longing for love in a world that seems to barely tolerate "outsiders" like himself, try as he may to leave his bloodthirsty past behind him. If there is a plot, it revolves around M's awakening feelings for Kelly, the epileptic waitress at the Grub's Rib diner but the novel is more about what it means to be human, what it means to be lonely, what it means to be on the outside. Recommended!

Enjoyable on more than one level.:
The bits and pieces of mythology in this novel are interesting. They make the book what it is, but the story can exist without them. Because the story at heart is not about the Labyrinth and devouring virgins: it's about the Minotaur and his humanity. A guy is more than his job, more than his trailer, more than his appearance, more than what anybody sees. This is a story about difference and desperation. Sherrill is a storyteller: his characters are true and tangible. Sherrill is a poet: he works words like clay, makes them do just what he needs them to do. I liked this book a lot. I'm just an average college student and I don't have time to read a lot for pleasure, but this was one I'm glad I made time for.

Beauty and the beast:
The frightening Minotaur of Greek myth, who once terrorized men and devoured virgins, has managed to survive the centuries and has now acclimated himself to life as a steak house cook in North Carolina in the 1990s. Because he is half man and half bull, M, as the Minotaur is now called, is understandably shy and lonely, desperate to be accepted by others while at the same time baffled by them. He longs for love. He is caught between the ancient world of his dreams and the realities and limitations of his current situation. With his bull head and sharp horns, he brings out both the best and worst from the people he encounters; their reactions range from fear to ridicule to curiosity to kindness. Steven Sherrill has done a superb job in this unique and touching story. Not only is he easily able to make the reader imagine the Minotaur living and working in the contemporary South, but his lyrical prose evokes the scents and bustle in a restaurant kitchen, the atmosphere of a run-down trailer park, and the comforts of the humdrum rituals in M's daily life. The story comes alive with touches of humor. Through a skillful interweaving of imagery from the ancient and contemporary worlds, Sherrill gives glimpses of both the primitive beast and the gentle man within a single body. Suspend your belief and enjoy this book. As the story progresses, you will find yourself identifying with M in many ways. And by the time you finish it, you will recognize the fragments of monster and human that are within all of us.

An exceptional first novel:
A sweet, melancholy book in which the Minotaur, now some 5,000 years old, is working as a line chef in a steak place in some unnamed southern state. Now known only as ÔM,Õ his days are filled by a daily routine that Sherrill somehow manages to infuse with an overwhelming sense of longing. Once a savage, terrifying force, the Minotaur now spends his days repairing automobiles, his nights carving prime rib. M stands on the outside looking in, both attracted and terrified by the prospects of friendship and love. In clean, uncluttered prose, Sherrill lets us see the loneliness and longing of his character in sharp relief. It is remarkable that such an understated book should be so affecting. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this novel is that Sherrill is able to take such a strange premise and to turn it into something genuinely moving; to make us feel as if there is something important at stake in the MinotaurÕs search for love; that his fate will tell us something important about ourselves, about our own hopes and longings.