As Raízes do Céu

"Some wrote, after the publication of this book twenty-four years ago, that it was the first 'ecological' novel, the first appeal for the salvation of our threatened biosphere. But I myself was not aware, at that time, of the extent of the destruction being perpetrated, nor of the magnitude of this danger. In 1956, I was sitting at the table of a great journalist, Pierre Lazareff. Someone uttered the word 'ecology.' Of the twenty personalities present, only four knew the meaning of that word…"