Konrad Ventana’s Post-Lux Trilogy is a Literary Phenom!
This astounding series of ultra-contemporary novels is positively Post-Lux (after the light) — post-enlightenment, postmodern, post-perspicuous gems of literary fiction from a bold and luminous visitant. Blazing with non-stop eye-opening drama, keen psychological insights, and layers upon layers of linguistic pyrotechnics, the reader is at once awed, and entertained, and perhaps even cultivated by reading, indeed by experiencing these vivid theatrical renditions. Each book stands alone as a work of art, yet together they form a transformative ensemble.
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We begin with A Desperado’s Daily Bread, which follows the trail of an 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 naturalistic roots, only to be stunned by the enduring power of artistic ideals vis-à-vis wan and vapid philosophical idealisms in molding the indomitable traditions of society. In challenging the tenants of modern society – which has essentially been lulled into a state of non-participation in acts of meaningful creativity – the postmodern Desperado embodies a refreshing vitality, i.e., “un hombre imprudente”who attests to the enduring value of the individual in a graceless age.
Next, The Unbearable Sadness of Zilch is a treatise on existentialism, modernism, and the emergence of nouveau feminism. Set in present-day Hollywood, and guided by an intrepid philosophical counselor (or life coach), we investigate The Lost Love of the Latest Tycoon, examining the role of the muse, the magnificent intemperate impulses of the femme fatale, and the allure of the casting couch, as we witness the fall of an empire in the twilight of the egoists. Sad Zilch is truly a feast for those who love Hollywood mysteries and film noir; only now, in the ultra-neo-noir of our contemporary high society, it is not the Private Eye who is called upon to find some hidden Truth, it is the Perspicuous Eye who is called upon to find the lost Beauty.
Finally, Questing for Überjoy is an epic adventure set in the high Himalayas. The story begins as a quest to rescue the kidnapped Peace Corps worker, Joycelyn Eberhard (aka Überjoy), and the young schoolgirls of the Sherpa School in Nepal, only to expand in scope upon the mythic landscapes of Tibet where earth meets sky in more ways than one. The majestic tapestry of human aspiration is elevated to new heights as masterful second-person narration engages the reader and simplistic two dimensional characters become serious flesh and blood. The reader is swept along in the turbulent flow of a rushing stream of events, and is subject to change in meaningful ways with the crushing weight the drama. The world may never appear the same.
