At the turn of the millennium, Winston-Salem publishing house John F. Blair found itself with a surprise hit. Local North Carolina author Steven Sherrill penned a novel in which “M,” the minotaur thought to have been slain by the Greek mythical hero Theseus, is alive and living in a North Carolina trailer park. His job: working as a line cook at a steakhouse. But things are not well. He’s a bummed out creature, worn down by the vagaries of time and the struggle of subsistence living. The subsequent novel is an affecting, pathos-filled tale about a mythical monster with a surprisingly deep inner life.
Over the years The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break developed a cult-like following, Picador picked up the paperback rights and Canongate put out the book for the U.K. market. All told, Sherrill’s modest book sold nearly 10,000 copies and won over some very influential people who now cite it as among their favorites, not the least of which was author Neil Gaiman.
Now, 16 years later, “M” returns in The Minotaur Takes His Own Sweet Time, which will be published on September 6. Like Sherrill, “M” has moved from the South and now lives in Pennsylvania. Hi new job: working as a Civil War re-enactor at a living history museum. He literally enacts dying daily, a rich irony for an apparently deathless creature.
“Steven had published several books with several other presses since the first Minotaur,” said Lizzy Nanny, director of publicity, for John. F. Blair. “It was when he was working on an opera with a U.K. composer, called Ian Wilson, that he realized he had another novel. And with this, it’s like he’s coming home to us.”
Minotaur is John F. Blair’s lead title for the fall. The now 62-year-old publishing house is largely focused on Southern-themed nonfiction titles and only publishes one to two fiction titles per season. With an initial print run of 4,000 hardcovers, the publisher has high hopes Minotaur will resonate with fans and new readers alike.
The new Minotaur comes festooned with blurbs from food celebrity Alton Brown, who was a fan of the first novel, as well as authors Kevin Brockmeier and John Hodgman. Sherrill will launch the book at Webster’s Bookstore and Café in State College, Penn. and he’ll be touring several southern book events, including the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance convention in Savannah, the Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors in Winston-Salem, and the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville. An album of music inspired by the book is already available for download on the author’s web site.
“Most of our bestselling titles never go beyond the state line of North Carolina, so when we have something with national appeal, it is very special,” said Nanny.
