Blending history, art and fiction, THE INVENTOR is an ode to secular humanism and a searing condemnation of religious and political sophistry. Multi-layered, this story-within-a-story revisits crimes committed in the name of God. It also resurrects a largely unknown, sadly neglected medieval painter who, reaching beyond the grave, can now show his face, belie his critics and put an end to speculations about the insights, passions and ordeals that inspired his art. Capturing the horrors his eyes have seen and foreshadowing the upheavals that would rock the world, filled with blistering commentaries on life, free thought, human bestiality and the death of reason, his allegories, now five centuries old, denounce the despotism of absurd beliefs and satirize the pointless circularity of the human condition.

“Painting is another way of keeping a diary,”  Pablo Picasso once said. THE INVENTOR agitates against false prophets who, to ensnare men’s souls, fill their heads with mind-boggling lies and often resort to violence to achieve their objectives. In so doing, it also offers another way of prying into a diary’s most scandalous secrets.

"The Inventor is elegantly written. Through his protagonist and a colorful melding of artists and other notable personalities plucked from the past, Mr. Gutman weaves an intriguing journey within the dark history of the Catholic Church, which has as much a surreal and fantastic texture to it as Harry Potter. This is a book with which you must dine. It does not allow you to consume it in a hurry. It is as if Mr. Gutman dares you to read on and simply accept that the aim of his work is not primarily to entertain you, but rather to provoke you to think and struggle and savor."
- Marco Cáceres, Honduras Weekly

"W. E. Gutman's latest contribution to the written word is The Inventor -- a refreshing, reasoned and intelligent breath of fresh air in a world of fear and ignorance. A hybrid -- combining fiction, art and history -- The Inventor takes on the controversial history of the Catholic Church... which does not fare well in Gutman's treatise. He does not suffer fools lightly, nor should he, given his extraordinary gift of prose. It should be read leisurely... metaphorically "sipped" like fine Cabernet Sauvignon. As with an expensive aged wine, it is only when it is "swirled" around your brain that the nuances emerge -- so too can the patient reader appreciate the thoughtfulness of Gutman's prose."
- Michele Buttelman, Features Editor, The Signal

"The Inventor is a uniquely presented story of an artist, an inventor, facing a world with religious and politcal pressures that don't embrace humanity's endeavor to create something greater. Literary and decidedly thought provoking, W. E. Gutman presents a truly thoughtful and highly recommended read."
- James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, The Midwest Book Review

"W.E. Gutman has given us The Inventor, a complex, multi-level, historical fiction that will command your attention and delight the imagination. The protagonist, Montvert, guides you along the route of unbelief and the reasoning to see the world and the powers that be as they really are. You are enticed with the wit and courage of an artist long ago that still instills courage in the face of absolute power. Gutman has created a surreal world that will keep you turning page after page looking at all the minute details."
- Gabriel Sheridan, American Atheist Magazine

Born in Paris, educated in France, Romania and Israel, W. E. Gutman is a widely published veteran journalist. Between 1991 and 2006, he covered politics, the military, human rights and other socio-economic issues in Central America. Formerly the international editor of the futurist New York-based magazine, OMNI, and U.S. editor of the Moscow-based magazine, Science in the USSR, he continues to write for a number of mainstream and special-interest publications. A self-described iconoclast, devout atheist and Freemason, he lives with his wife in Southern California’s “high desert.”

Other recent works by Mr. Gutman include: Journey to Xibalba – The Subversion of Human Rights in Central America, NOCTURNES – Tales From The Dreamtime, Adrift: Life in Transit and Flight from Ein Sof.