Bull

By: David Elliott

Narrated by: Cherise Boothe, Korey Jackson

See the story of Theseus and the Minotaur in a whole new light!

Minos thought he could
Pull a fast one
On me, Poseidon!
God of the Sea!
But I'm the last one
On whom you
Should try such a thing.
The nerve of that guy.
The balls. The audacity.
I AM THE OCEAN!
I got capacity!
Depths! Darkness! Delphic power!
So his sweet little plan
Went big-time sour
And his wife had a son
Born with horns and a muzzle
Who ended up
In an underground puzzle.
What is it with you mortals?
You just can't seem to learn:
If you play with fire, babies,
You're gonna get burned.

Much like Lin-Manuel Miranda did in Hamilton, the New York Times best-selling author David Elliott turns a classic on its head in form and approach, updating the timeless story of Theseus and the Minotaur for a new generation. A rough, rowdy, and darkly comedic young adult retelling in verse, Bull will have listeners reevaluating one of mythology's most infamous monsters.

©2017 David Elliott (P)2017 Recorded Books

An unexpected modern retelling in verse

Bull is a moving and darkly amusing retelling, in free verse, of the myth of the Minotaur (named Asterion). Told from the alternating perspectives of the characters in the story, it focuses on Asterion rather than Theseus. The surprising opening line reveals a narrative firmly rooted in modern American urban slang with a smattering of profanity and a nod to classical poetic expressions. The voice of each narrator is distinct to their personality. However, the main storyteller, Poseidon, is talking directly to the reader, and he shows all the pettiness and caprice of an immortal who finds amusement in meddling in human affairs and then watching the ensuing chaos, and this voice remains true to the spirit of Ancient Greek mythology. In Bull, Asterion’s story highlights the tragedy of those whose lives are orchestrated, manipulated and destroyed by the actions of those in power (Poseidon and Minos), while the powerful take no moral responsibility for the consequences of their actions.
About the audiobook: Cherise Boothe and Korey Jackson do an excellent job preserving the cadences and rhymes of the free verse while allowing each character’s unique emotions and perspective shine through. I recommend the audio experience.

Two horns up!

The male reader is so good and does a good job overall delineating the different characters, although I’d still like to hear it with a full cast. The female reader is not as good and sounds like she was recorded in a cave.

The book is a lot of fun, but the tragedy is also fully developed. The variety of poetic styles used by the different characters is effective, sort of Shakespeare meets hip hop. It’s a great fit for audio.

this book is both hilarious and full of story

I got sucked into the book like
THAT
it's hilarious(hence the title of this review)
it's story is amazing and has a definite recommendation from me

Very poetic

Not sure what happened in this book. It was interesting and very poetic. I think the poetic aspect was distracting from the story

Love the take on the Minotaur

Fresh look at an ancient story . I loved the author’s take on the character of the Minotaur. The performers were spot on. I highly recommend this for teens and adults. There is a lot of bad language and subject matter that make it inappropriate for younger kids.