Gustavo Scarpa drives Tolstoy to number one in Brazil

Brazilian footballer Gustavo Scarpa has sparked a cultural phenomenon by driving Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel, ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’, to the top of the Amazon Brazil best-seller list.

Scarpa, a midfielder for Atlético Mineiro, uses his YouTube channel, ‘Canal do Scarpinha’, to share his passion for literature. A video discussing Tolstoy’s work surpassed 600,000 views on YouTube, while clips reached over one million views on Instagram. This surge in interest has even inspired fans of Atlético Mineiro to form a dedicated reading club.

Scarpa has been vocal about his literary interests since his time at Palmeiras, frequently discussing authors such as Franz Kafka, George Orwell, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. He expressed a sense of responsibility regarding his influence, stating he prefers to recommend books he has genuinely enjoyed.