The mythical beast gets a grilling.

Five thousand years after his apparently much exaggerated death at the hands of Theseus in the Cretan Labyrinth, the Minotaur is alive, as well as can be expected and working in a rib restaurant in North Carolina.

His once bestial appetites now latent, M - even his name is diminished to an initial - is characterised by social and physical awkwardness. Though an eternal alien, millennia in the company of men has made him an adroit and sensitive diviner of their nature. And, despite a necessarily itinerant existence, there are times, such as this, when he manages to squeeze his horns uncomfortably into some strata of society in an effort to ease the burden of his lonely longevity.

In this debut of big themes and immense originality, Sherrill’s deftness and mesmerising prose ensure that the reader believes implicitly and effortlessly in its fantastic premise. A wise and wonderful novel with a title to die for. Michael Williams 09 May 03

The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break by Steven Sherrill is published by Canongate, out now.

useful link: cannongate: the minotaur takes a cigarette break