I picked up The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break because of the title and in spite of the cover, and because I have a more than casual interest in the work of first-time novelists who plop mythological characters into contemporary settings. It had a slow start, but it was ultimately worth the trouble, and I find that of the five or six books I’ve read recently, it’s the one that keeps coming up in my thoughts.

Of course, one of those thoughts is the fact that it was published by Picador USA, which strikes me as someone’s idea of twisted joke.

I hope the editors at Viking have a similar sense of humor.