Steven Sherrill

Five thousand years after escaping the Labyrinth, the immortal Minotaur finds himself living alone in the American South, until chaos disrupts his life and he rediscovers his potential for happiness and love.

A Novel

The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break

The Minotaur of Greek mythology now lives in central PA in an old motel and works as Civil War re-enactor.

The Minotaur Takes His Own Sweet Time

Five thousand years on - and the Minotaur, or M as he is known to his colleagues, is working as a line chef at Grub's Rib in Carolina, keeping to himself, keeping his horns down, trying in vain to put his past behind him. He leads an ordered lifestyle in a shabby trailer park where he tinkers with cars, writes and re-writes to-do lists and observes the haphazard goings on around him. Outwardly controlled, M tries to hide his emotional turmoil as he is transported deeper into the human world of deceit, confusion and need.

A darkly insightful evocation of the post-industrial era, Joy, PA tells the story of a family teetering on the precipice of ruin. The Augenbaughs live in a broken and decaying town where the last vestiges of country-club wealth run up against the terrible realities of working-class poverty. Abigail, a fervent believer in the apocalyptic teachings of a radio preacher, is desperate to save her son from Judgment Day as she readies herself for the Rapture-due to arrive in just a few days. Her husband, Burns, has moved to the basement to live out his days in a medicated stupor, unable to cope with memories of his service in Iraq. Caught between the suffering of his mother and father, ten-year-old Willie fights the inherited demons that have savaged his parents' tenuous grasp on reality. The somber drama surrounding the Augenbaughs plays out with a piercing and commanding lyrical beauty. Both transfixing and disconcerting, Steven Sherrill's empathetic portrait of alienation elicits hope and sympathy amidst shattered but no-less-dignified lives.

Joy, PA

Benny Poteat is the only witness to a young woman's suicide.After setting up a video camera on the bank of a river, she undresses, walks into the water and disappears. Should Benny go to the police? Or keep this terrible information to himself?When Benny decides to find out who the woman was, what began as a blackly humorous tale peopled by misfits and loners, gradually descends into darkness and obsession. With heart-breaking honesty and touches of surrealism, Visits From the Drowned Girl uncovers the secret longings that dwell beneath the surface of everyday lives.

Visits from the Drowned Girl

Ersatz Anatomy

The Locktender's House

"Five thousand years out of the Labyrinth that held him captive, and as many years beyond the dubious bargain that set him free, the Minotaur finds himself struggling to negotiate the American South with the body of a man and the head of a bull"--Amazon.com.

Steven Sherrill

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