Gustavo Scarpa sparks literary trend with book reviews

Atlético-MG midfielder Gustavo Scarpa has sparked a literary phenomenon known as ‘Galeitura’ through his YouTube channel, ‘Canal do Scarpinha’. His book reviews have significantly impacted the Brazilian publishing market.

Following his review of Leo Tolstoy’s classic ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’, the book reached the number one spot on Amazon’s best-seller list in Brazil. The movement has inspired fans to form a reading club, with a dedicated WhatsApp group reaching its 300-member limit on its first day and an Instagram profile exceeding 50,000 followers.

Scarpa, who developed a reading habit around 2018, expressed surprise at the scale of the response, noting that he did not expect such a massive repercussion for a classic work of Russian literature. The cultural impact of his recommendations has even drawn attention from international sports media, such as Argentina’s Diario Olé.