In his brief and rather sketchy guide to the history and enduring attraction of labyrinths and mazes, McCullough (Brooklyn and How It Got That Way
) shows how the labyrinth—"a single uninterrupted circuitous path leading to a center"—differs from the maze, a puzzle made up of numerous forks that demands choices for its successful navigation. McCullough traces the evolution of the labyrinth form from its obvious starting place—the Cretan myth of the Minotaur—to its Christianized appearance in European cathedrals such as Chartres. Citing various interpreters of the Minotaur myth, from Homer to Robert Graves, McCullough suggests the original Cretan labyrinth may have owed its design to a whirling erotic dance performed on a specially marked floor. He races on to describe the crude outdoor labyrinths made of earth and stone that appear across northern Europe, outlining some of their folkloric associations. Turning his attention to the origins of the maze, McCullough evokes the 16th-century fashion for landscape gardening, with its craze for so-called "knot gardens" and hedged mazes. He ends with a rambling series of glimpses into the contemporary "maze craze," profiling New Age enthusiasts who use labyrinths in prayer and some of the foremost commercial maze designers. Although he packs his story full of information, McCullough's historical and anthropological accounts can feel slight and simplistic. Illus. (Oct. 26)
