Memoirs of a Minotaur

"In his extraordinary book Memoirs of a Minotaur: From Merrill Lynch to Patty Hearst to Poetry, Robin Magowan (grandson of the founder of Merrill Lynch and nephew of one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century, James Merrill) turns his uncompromising vision and diamond-edged language toward the emotional terrain and the kind of privileged life very few of us have known, and against which he rebels. Unlike many memoirs, this one rewards the reader by enabling us to inhabit the rarefied existence the author both holds at arm’s length and admits into the chambers of his personal memory. Life is seen through a Proustian lens so that the narrative tells us as much about the man Magowan and his journey as it does about an entire world, one that encompasses business as well as social and personal upheaval, and ranges geographically from Manhattan and Southampton to Berkeley in the sixties, to Paris and Greece, and to other distant destinations, including the rarefied altitude of Tesi recognition that is both earned and liberating. Whether or not readers are familiar with Magowan’s stunning prose in his travel writings or with the voyages and discoveries finished by each carefully crafted chapter, Magowan’s writing bears an admirable family resemblance to that of his uncle’s work; for readers of James Merrill’s poetry, this memoir will hold an additional interest."—Helen Houghton and Bill Handley