The Minotaur at Calle Lanza

by Zito Madu

A "hauntingly effective" surrealist travel memoir about the mysterious transformations that may lurk inside us all (Library Journal, starred review).

Venice, 2020. As a pandemic rages across the globe, Zito Madu finds himself in a nearly deserted city, its walls and basilicas humming with strange magic. As he wanders a haunted landscape, we see him twist further into his own his family's difficult immigration from Nigeria to Detroit, his troubled relationship with his father, the sporadic joys of daily life and solitude, his experiences with migration, poverty, foreignness, racism, and his own rage and regret. But as it is with all labyrinths, after finding its center, will he come away unscathed, or will he transform into the gripping, fantastical monstrousness that's out to consume him whole?

With nods to Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges, this surrealist debut memoir takes us into the labyrinth of memory and the monsters lurking there.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Travel, Italy

184 pages, Paperback

Published April 2, 2024

Reviews

[Nathan Shuherk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This surrealist memoir that contains quiet and fascinating moments. Felt like a dream - sort of jarring but feels close enough to real that it draws you in, but then you ultimately wake up too soon and feel there was more you could’ve learned/experienced/felt
Definitely something to add to the list if you enjoy speculative nonfiction

[Kurt Neumaier · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fellow labyrinth lover and hater of Microsoft Teams, I think this book is very good!

Also, cover of the year, hands down.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part memoir, past Kafkaesque tale, this book is 100 percent absorbing. A series of fortunate accidents allows a family from Nigeria to enter and live in the U.S. it’s a weighted opportunity for the narrator’s father. At home, dad was a respected teacher and village chief, surrounded by friends. In Detroit, his educational certifications need to be redone; he works nights at the Rite Aid, summers in an ice cream truck. He sacrifices so much for his children but cannot countenance that one son is not making the most of these hard-won opportunities. That son, Zito Madu, works through his caregiving role in his family—even remotely, at night, while on a fellowship in Venice. The fabled city is a great place for reflection (paging Thomas Mann). Yet it is full of labyrinths and bereft of tourists amid the COVID epidemic. Like Annie Ernaux, Madu does not sugarcoat life. There are not many reassuring, transcendent tropes. He has become self-sufficient but at a cost—his aloneness (not loneliness, he differentiates) is palpable, as are daily decisions on whether to move from observer to participant. Yet there is love. And devotion. And guilt. These tensions make this work so real.

[Susan Atherly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This autobiographical novella is the author's debut. At times moving and funny, it is also angry.

The author was uprooted, with his family, seeking a better life in the West. They eventually settling in the United States. This uprooting left him a young boy confused by the change, bullied, impoverished and with few friends in a new world with little instruction on how to digest all of the changes. He also does not want to follow the path his father wants for him.

This sounds like a story that we have heard before but I've found with all such stories, it is the main character who shapes the tale. Zito eventually leaves home and heads out on a path of self discovery. That sounds cliche but isn't. He has no idea what he is doing or where he is going. I like Zito so I liked this story.

It is a first book and it shows some of that awkwardness. He mentions things repeatedly that he should trust the audience to remember when it is mentioned again. Minor stuff. His writing style s beautiful and his world well painted. Can't wait to see what he writes next!

[Jeff Wait · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful literary adventure with horns that cut deep.

[mola tecta · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’ve struggled with divorcing my expectations of this memoir from what i ended up reading, but i nevertheless enjoyed it.
a lot of interesting and emotional threads weaving together a fellowship in venice with childhood and adult experiences, mostly with family. i loved the background, anecdotes, and reflections… i felt lucky to be reading something so vulnerable, to be trusted with these stories. i loved how the moments of venice slowed me down, helped me savor the moment and kept me from rushing ahead.
my expectation was that it would be more surrealist, more fantastical, but this wasn’t the case. i really liked the bits that were there, and i think it could benefit from a push in this direction. some books i finish and wish they were longer; this was one of those cases.

i feel like i just scratched the surface, and i want that cut to go deeper. i’m interested in seeing more of what’s underneath since it’s been so expertly teased. i look forward to reading what madu writes in the future.

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best memoir I’ve ever read. What can I say, a girl loves some magical realism thrown into a personal account.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little repetitive overall, but fun to visualize with my own experience in Venice.

None of it really pulled me in thaaat deeply, but I appreciated his humbling and touching reflections on the tumultuous relationship between his father. This reminded me a lot of my brother and I think he’d get a lot out of this (if he read).

[Charles Korb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting memoir, the author certainly has a lot of unique experiences but I didn't get the centerpiece of the book, the eponymous minotaur. Also, it's frustrating to watch the author get so stuck in his own head about things.

I did appreciate the discussion of what it means for you and one of your parents to (maybe) hate each other, that felt very visceral and real.

2025 summer book bingo square: BIPOC non-fiction

[Tom Gambardella · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Minotaur in the labyrinth metaphor and the allusions to Borges are all going to stay in my mind for a very long time, a brilliant book that I feel much better for having read.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful moments of embracing stillness with strangers in a new country, challenging ideas about forgiveness and what holding onto anger does to us that I’ve got to sit with for awhile.

[elif sinem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this thinking the strongest scene would be the moment that gives the book its name, but I walked away being most impressed by the impassioned, gentle, and honest writing about the author and his father. The depiction of family and poverty felt very relatable and it did unlock certain memories I hadn't thought about in a while as well. A great, short read. Also, the "stillness" descriptor that The Washington Post talked about is true. That prose is like watching a river.

[Tom Mortimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully and brutally vulnerable at once. Toes the lines of surrealism and realism so perfectly that you effortlessly succumb to the dream and waking state of the author at every turn of Venice and his life’s struggle

[CHILTONM · Rating 5 out of 5]

No more. That’s what I said to myself that day. No more of the hate. What was done was done. Some distance would always remain between us, but much of it could be closed. What my freedom gave me the opportunity to do was to be of service to him, and to be of service to my mother and siblings. Starting from zero, I had shaped my life into what I wanted it to be, and after seeing all the different kinds of my selves in the world, after leaving all the time only to return, the irony was that I wanted to be in the same position where they had started me, helping them through their days. The same child in the classroom with them, the same child in the ice cream truck with my father.

[Grace Huang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book was more focused on one's paternal relationship through the lens of a man (different societal standards + experiences + perspective), it was a book that really opened my eyes toward having compassion for my own parents, especially my dad. It was not hard to relate to in terms of being from an immigrant family. Very much would recommend this to a younger audience as it is a balanced piece in terms of revelations, as it was mostly light but there are hints of depth that can pull one in if they're looking for it.

[Kat O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absorbing read filled with excellent writing. You’ll feel the angst of being an oldest child who can never do enough for his parents and who clashes with his father in an immigrant family from Nigeria, get a glimpse into breaking into writing as a career, experience Venice as few non-residents have - during the depths of COVIDx and follow a magical/surrealist subplot. It’s not enough to follow the story, the turns of phrases in each sentence beg to be lingered on.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very unusual book; blending reality with fantasy. I was drawn to the book because it was set in Venice, and I found the description of the city to be similar to how I remember it, having visited in 2017. The setting of the book was during the pandemic in 2020, which was interesting to imagine, having heard news reports of the severity of the pandemic in Italy as a whole. I did have a hard time following some of the fantasy parts of the novel, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

[Mike Phelan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting! Part memoir of a rough Detroit childhood as an immigrant from Nigeria, part Covid-era travelogue, with a single amazing surrealist chapter thrown in. Surrealist memoir wasn't a literary category I'd ever read before. Also, gorgeous cover that evokes the architecture of the basilica featured prominently in the story.

[Shannon A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part memoir, part travel narrative this book is mesmerizing in its juxtaposition of the author's life growing up in Detroit, Michigan and his writing assignment that brings him to floating magic city of Venice, Italy at the height of the Covid pandemic.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️ for me: A whirlwind, but one that is gorgeously written and deeply emotive. Read this surrealist memoir while in Italy, which felt deeply appropriate given how much of a sense of place it portays.

[Crimson Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ALC of this as an audiobook

This was an interesting listen about a guy who was trying to do better with his life and find his way, this was a quick listen that I think a lot will enjoy

[Macon Maxey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The surrealism completely blindsided me. Madu does a very good job of lulling you into a routine, an ordinary time (which 2020 very much was not). Very enjoyable, vulnerable, and eye-opening. As if I needed more reminders to read Jorge Luis Borges

[Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short and incisive biography that didn’t quite gel for me—I was prepared for the fantastical elements, but they weren’t quite as wild as I expected and didn’t really end the book in an imaginative rush. The core narrative of migration and father-son dynamics is effective and compelling, though.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25
Big fan

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, meditative in the best way. I wanted more

[Molly Misek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted this to be more than it was. Maybe the writing fell flat and needed more voice/oomph, but the subject matters could have been explored more in-depth. Otherwise an eerie and emotional read.

[Sisyphus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quitting Twitter by reading books of people I follow on Twitter.

[Ethan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wish I liked this book more than I actually did

[Angela Natividad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small and satisfying little meal, with a narrative voice that evokes something of the Lost Generation.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5