{"product_id":"the-roots-of-heaven","title":"The Roots of Heaven","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Roots of Heaven\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e takes as its subject the deliberate and relentless hunting and killing of elephants for their ivory. Morel, a former dentist whose survival in a Nazi concentration camp he attributes to his fixation on the freedom and companionability of elephants, travels to Africa intent on stopping the slaughter. He circulates a petition demanding their killing be made illegal. It attracts two signers: a disgraced American from the Korean War and a call girl described as \"just another animal who needed protection.\" From here things get really interesting--politically, socially and culturally. Morel realizes that action is necessary; a notorious elephant hunter is shot in the buttocks, while a female trophy hunter is stripped naked and publicly whipped. \"You never teach a man anything by killing him,\" he observes, \"On the contrary you make him forget everything.\" He gains a following--some drawn by his cause, some by political expediency, some by a need to believe in something, anything, bigger than themselves. He is chased and cornered at Lake Kuru, where a vast assemblage of elephants has converged to drink, and where this novel concludes in a brilliant and memorable climax.\u003cbr\u003eIn 1956 this book exploded into the world. A huge bestseller in France, it won the country's most prestigious award, the \u003ci\u003ePrix Goncourt\u003c\/i\u003e. In the U.S. it was an immediate bestseller.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Verba Mundi","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50808836915432,"sku":"9781567926262","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/9539\/3512\/files\/imageloader_6e99a850-6387-42e5-b854-6a2cab46a720.jpg?v=1790304611","url":"https:\/\/shop.kuumba.app\/products\/the-roots-of-heaven","provider":"Kuumba","version":"1.0","type":"link"}