Where Did This Come From? the novel

A small tribe on the brink of destruction, fighting against the most powerful force that mankind has ever known: Want. Can they possibly survive?

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Based in the fictional South American nation of Palagua, the novel Where Did This Come From? follows the Huapi tribe’s desperate struggle for survival. When American tourist Joe Vera saves the life of the Huapi chief, he is rewarded with a rare and beautiful crystal unknown to the outside world.

Back in America, Joe gives the crystal as a gift to the terminally-ill son of his ex-girlfriend, but it isn't long before the crystal attracts the interest of a leading U.S. toy manufacturer, MajorCo Toys. In an instant, the crystal is selling like crazy. Joe becomes rich overnight, living the American Dream. MajorCo stock is skyrocketing, just before the Christmas shopping season.

The news from Palagua is much more grim. Mining operations are tearing apart the Huapi land. Civil war erupts as factions battle for control of the huge wealth suddenly found in this once-poor nation. The Huapi find themselves and the jungle that supports them on the brink of annihilation. Joe struggles with the forces he has unleashed. Can he fight his own desires and those of consumers who never bother to ask, Where Did This Come From?

Where Did This Come From? Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars by Amazon readers! Highly Recommended by Midwest Book Review!

Free sample chapter (PDF.) Free chapters read by the author: iTunes | MP3 | YouTube.

Where Did This Come From? is the WORLD'S FIRST Carbon-Free(R) novel according to Carbonfund.org. (Details.)

Author Larry Nocella interview with CarbonFund.org and with print publisher of first edition: Xlibris.

A note about Where Did This Come From? and the movie Avatar

For those thinking that Where Did This Come From? sounds a little like the movie Avatar, you're right! While Avatar is a great movie, for the record, Where Did This Come From? was published in 2006 and Avatar came out in 2009. This certainly isn't any allegation of wrong-doing, just an observation that being mindful of where things come from is an idea that's time has come.

For as little as we know about our possessions, it seems that for every single object around us, Where Did This Come From? (and Avatar)-like stories could be written. It could be a genre to itself. Our technological wizardry makes us think we've come so far, that we know a lot. If we try to explain where our gadgets came from, what went into making them, who lived on the land with the raw materials, we realize how little we know.