The Man Who Loved Brazil Too Much

He ate only Brazilian food, played only Brazilian music, and asked Congress to replace Portuguese with Tupi. Then he tried to save Brazilian farming, and was defeated by ants. Then he tried to save the Republic itself. Lima Barreto's novel Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma (1911) is the funniest sad book in Brazilian literature: the story of an honest man, three big projects, and a country that didn't want to be saved. CHAPTERS 0:00 The most patriotic man 0:30 Meet the Major 1:28 Project 1: culture 2:31 Project 2: the farm 3:50 Project 3: the government 4:58 The letter 5:42 Three defeats 6:00 The author SOURCES Lima Barreto, "Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma" (Jornal do Commercio, 1911; book, 1915; public domain) Lilia Moritz Schwarcz, "Lima Barreto: triste visionário" (Companhia das Letras, 2017) Nicolau Sevcenko, "Literatura como missão" (1983)