Moj Argentinski Tango - ispovest Mornara Pešića
The book is an authentic, poignant, and humorous confession of the Belgrade sailor and bohemian Milorad Mornar Pešić (1934–2018), which Predrag Aleksijević wrote down and shaped into a confessional novel.
From the slums of old Dorćol, through the maritime school in Kotor, Pešić sailed the world's seas in the 1950s and 1960s on the ships of the "Jugolinija". The life of a sailor was his dream, but also an escape from the grayness of socialist Yugoslavia. In Buenos Aires in 1959, he accidentally entered a milonga and fell in love with Argentine tango - not just a dance, but a whole world of passion, sadness and dignity. He became obsessed, learned from old milongueras, danced in hidden salons, fell in love with fatal Argentine women and absorbed the culture that changed his life.
The book follows his adventures: from clashes with Peronists, overnight stays in brothels where tango is danced, to friendships with legendary dancers and musicians. Between voyages, he returned to Belgrade, where no one understood tango, so he danced it alone in an empty apartment with Piazzolla and Troilus.
"My Argentine Tango" is a story about the freedom that a Yugoslav found only far from his homeland, about the love of dance that "hurts while it is beautiful", and about a man who lived his whole life as if he were dancing - passionately, dangerously and to the end. The last chapter brings a touching return to Buenos Aires in 2017, when the old Sailor, sick and in a wheelchair, goes to his last milonga.
The book has become a cult among the tango community in Serbia and the region - a combination of an adventure novel, a memoir and a love letter to tango. Warm, sincere and irresistible.
One copy is available
