Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break

"As a meditation on hope and redemption, THE MINOTAUR TAKES A CIGARETTE BREAK is a bit of a bust. Its true sweetness and character come off much better on a human scale. Sherrill's uncanny depiction of restaurant work--the frenetic pace of a busy night, the cutthroat institutional politics, the wet, gritty stink that clings to body and fabric after a hard shift--is one of the novel's greatest joys. The same goes for the intermittent ruminations on auto repair. Sherrill has a real talent for writing about obsession, precision and characters with rare aptitude for losing and for loneliness. It's this mix that powers the novel through its few rough patches. When he's on top of his game, Sherrill reveals himself as that most endangered of literary species, a crafty, talented novelist who's not afraid to show his heart."Sherrill, Steven is the author of 'Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break', published 2002 under ISBN 9780312308926 and ISBN 0312308922.