His first book, "Depois do Sol" (After the Sun, a short story collection) appeared in 1965. Despite the censorship that was imposed after the 1964 coup d'état, he was also able to publish his novel "Bebel Que a Cidade Comeu" (Bebel Eaten by the City) in 1968, but the more critical and controversial "Zero", completed in 1969, was first published in Europe in 1974, in an Italian translation, and was banned in Brazil until 1979.