The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: A Novel

By: Steven Sherrill

Narrated by: Holter Graham

Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Award-winning author, narrator, and screenwriter Neil Gaiman personally selected this book, and, using the tools of the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), cast the narrator and produced this work for his audiobook label, Neil Gaiman Presents.

A few words from Neil on The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: "When Steve and I talked about the ideal voice for M, he suggested Holter Graham….because 'Holter’s handling of the Minotaur’s grunt was PERFECT. Exactly what I heard in my head.'"

Five thousand years out of the Labyrinth, the Minotaur finds himself in the American South, living in a trailer park and working as a line cook at a steakhouse. No longer a devourer of human flesh, the Minotaur is a socially inept, lonely creature with very human needs. But over a two-week period, as his life dissolves into chaos, this broken and alienated immortal awakens to the possibility for happiness and to the capacity for love. "Sherrill also insinuates other mythological beasts - the Hermaphroditus, the Medusa - into the story, suggesting how the Southern landscape is shadowed by these myths. The plot centers around the Minotaur's feelings for Kelly, a waitress who is prone to epileptic fits. Does she reciprocate his affections? As the reader might expect, the course of interspecies love never does run smooth." (Publishers Weekly) Steven Sherrill created the artwork used for the audiobook edition of The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break.

To hear more from Neil Gaiman on The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break, click here, or listen to the introduction at the beginning of the book itself.

Learn more about Neil Gaiman Presents and Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX).

©2000 Steven Sherrill (P)2011 John F. Blair Publisher

Because Immortals are People too.

I loved this beautiful quiet story and thought Holter Graham was perfect as a narrator.

Beautifully written

Enjoyed this story very much! very detailed and almost picturesque. A sensitive description of the relationship of a modern minotaur and his world around him. Loved it. Read it. Absolutely beautifully written.

A fun book with a great narration

What did you love best about The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: A Novel?

The setting of the book was implausible, with a horned minotaur fitting right into the country scene. Couldn't stop laughing as he stumbled his way through many situations

What does Holter Graham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Fantastic narration makes the audio stand apart

Any additional comments?

An easy and fun listen.

Amazing execution of a lackluster plot

What did you love best about The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: A Novel?

The writing is amazing. Beautiful textured and nuanced. The performance is also sublime.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Do not read this looking for any sort of action. It's a character story through and through that wanders through the life of a slightly unusual, socially inept short-order cook.

What about Holter Graham’s performance did you like?

Everything. One of the best narrations I've ever heard.

If you could rename The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: A Novel, what would you call it?

The Minotaur: A day in a (very long) life.

Loved this!

If you could sum up The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: A Novel in three words, what would they be?

Lonely bovine cook.

What other book might you compare The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: A Novel to and why?

Of Mice and Men, oddly enough. The big, slowish being unintentionally causing harm is what reminded me.

What about Holter Graham’s performance did you like?

The grunt, and the way he used high nasally tones for the women and some of the men.

If you could take any character from The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: A Novel out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I am not taking any of those people out to dinner. They are the kind you read about but flee in real life.
I would,however,eat anything the Minotaur cooked for me, and send compliments to the chef.

Any additional comments?

The introduction describes Grubb's Rib as a greasy spoon. The menu belies this description. The workings of a restaurant kitchen were described beautifully!

Not exactly gripping

This book had an interesting premise and well drawn characters. However, it is one of those stories that are a bit like a small piece of ordinary chocolate, you listen to it, and like it but then forget about it.

Bubba, meet Bullfinch

Here's the premise: a mythological creature, head of a bull, body of a man, works as a line cook in a steakhouse in rural North Carolina and nobody much notices! A real Minotaur! Horns and everything, okay I'll have the prime rib. Sherril makes us accept that suspension of disbelief, telling a story where impossibility intrudes on reality with hardly a ripple. The Minotaur is always The Minotaur, with the capital letters and rarely a pronoun, and the constant repetition of "The Minotaur" is almost hypnotic. The Minotaur lives in a trailer park, fixes cars and falls in love with the epileptic waitress. We never find out how he got here from Crete, but we don't mind because this is clearly where he belongs, just as every other place he's been is where he belongs. He remembers devouring virgins and youths but hasn't the energy to get into that these days, and he prefers onions anyway. It's a story about the downside of immortality

Holter Graham perfectly captures the speech of The Minotaur, a series of modified bovine grunts. He weaves the rest of the story in almost dreamlike cadences, giving the characters the voices that are different, and not strained.

This book was picked by Neil Gaiman, and it's not hard to see why. Gaiman's entire ouvre is more or less about the collision of myth and reality, and when you've read everything he's written, a good way to get over the annoyance that he hasn't written more is to read things he likes.

neil you owe me one

What did you like best about The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: A Novel? What did you like least?

The fleeting discussion on the previous life

Has The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: A Novel turned you off from other books in this genre?

I do not think you can categorize this book

as any specific genre - would i hesitate from this author? yes

What three words best describe Holter Graham???s performance?

perfect orgasmic real

Was The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: A Novel worth the listening time?

yes only because neil recommended it

Any additional comments?

neil owes me one

Made me squirm, but with a redemptive ending.

I chose this book because it was on Neil Gaiman's recommended list, and I'm beginning to get the idea his tastes are a little darker than mine. The minotaur and the characters that surround him are flawed, and ultimately very human, but events unfold in a way that made me squirm, always anticipating the next thing that was going to wrong, or the next encounter he was going to have with a character who behaved badly, or the next irrevocable bad decision the minotaur would make. The ending was redemptive, so I'm not sorry I listened, but it made me uncomfortable enough while it played out that I'm not sure I can call the experience enjoyable.

The narrarator was terrific, and did a great job voicing all the characters, especially the one who speaks the least, the minotaur himself.

Great writing, well performed, off the beaten path

Really a great example of what a controlled, tight writer can do: imagination meets skill; next thing you know, you are wholly engaged and sympathetic to a minotaur line chef. Amazing. The narrator was excellent. Had a great tone. I'm definintely going back to the Neil Gaiman stuff again.