LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Publishers Newswire/ — In this first book of a much-anticipated literary series, Konrad Ventana draws back the curtains and throws open a window to a perennial drama with a depth of language that can only be described as symphonic. “A Desperado’s Daily Bread: Book One of the Post-Lux Trilogy” (ISBN: 978-0595521548, paperback) is a riveting drama that follows the trail of a Western outlaw biochemist of the subterranean territories through the neo-shamanistic dystopia, neo-contemplative hoo-ha, and blatant neoteny of the 1970′s New Age movements on the hunt for more profound and sublime naturalistic roots.

His name is Wade, and in his own outlandish way he has masterful skills in free-solo rock climbing and genetic engineering that prove to be equally shocking and impressive. Blazing with eye-opening drama, keen psychological insights, and layers upon layers of linguistic pyrotechnics, this allegorical work of literary fiction has received both Editor’s Choice and Rising Star designations.

The theme of “A Desperado’s Daily Bread” is the value of the inspired individual – as visionary, as artist, as dreamer – for a society that has been lulled into a state of non-participation in the life-of-the-mind and the acts of meaningful creativity. It is a work of social criticism, where the “inner darkness” is manifest as an allegorical form of disease, and the Desperado is haunted by a relentless horde of pitiable lepers all seeking some form of healing or holy communion, although the exact nature of the disease is not spelled out.

The book is intended as an elixir for a terminally-ill society, for it harkens back to a time when art and poetry and literature served as a guiding light for a culture, as our own society was wrought from the heroic sacrifices of such inspired individuals. But alas, we seem to have lost or conveniently forgotten this aspect of our history and our humanity along the way to post-modernism.

It is about the alienation of the visionary in a society that honors the robes of authority but not the “swink” of creativity per se. And it is intended as a solace for those sensitive souls who have been betrayed or abused by unsavory authorities in any coveted field of human endeavor – a “Catcher in the Rye” for the would-be artist in a postmodern world.

But most of all, it is wonderfully reassuring: “Think of us in your time of need, whenever the torrents of darkness rage. Remember us as the gentle wind that moves across the prairie. Remember the outlaw desperado, riding with the wind and the thunder, riding beyond the boundaries of discretion, riding evermore to your emotional rescue.”

Available from: www.iuniverse.com, www.bn.com, and www.amazon.com .