Foreword

This book can not be classified in any genre but it comes as a patchwork that contains short stories, sketches, essays, tips and song lyrics. It was created over a long period when I had the concentration and the urge to express myself in this way. I hope it will be interesting, and at least help readers a little bit and encourage people with mental illness and retirees to try to be creative and avoid self-pity.

The illustrations have been made by the Croatian painter Marc Antonio Cinotti, who managed to hit the essence of the book and I consider him a co-author.

The key themes are unrequited love, rock and roll, the struggle against depression and youth in the transmitted and literal sense, and the pursuit of ideals.

Episode

 

I was a professor of Marxism in 1990; it was already clear that it would be the last year to teach that subject. When the first multiparty elections were held, and the party HDZ won the elections, some students treated me disgustingly, as if I were the incorporation of the socialist system which had been defeated. I was replacing a colleague of mine who returned from her maternity leave until I lost my job. Instead of Marxism the subject Politics and Economy was introduced but I wasn’t able to stay at school. There was the question what to do with my life. The national tensions in Yugoslavia were growing ever stronger and everything led to war. For several years I had already been a pen pal of a beautiful girl from Barcelona who wanted me to visit her. I completed 5 grades of Spanish and decided to combine practicality with pleasure. I would visit Montserrat and make my best to stay as longer as possible, improve my Spanish, and maybe we two could become a couple. In that time, a visa was necessary to transit France. I, with my low budget, planned to travel by bus, so I went to the French consulate. I filled in all the needed forms and submitted the application for a transit visa. I was denied it. I was unemployed, so they probably thought that I would stay in France. I would have to go by plane. Presumably, to fly over France there is no need for a visa. I was 30 and had a wish to fulfill some crazy dream.

My best friend Goran worked in a slot machine and billiards club in one of the best and most elite neighborhoods of Zagreb. I used to go there often, play billiards and waste my time. The place was popular: people from all over the city used to come there.

One night we were drinking beer at my place and there was a suggestion to throw a party in the club where he worked. We planned everything, we made a list of girls and guys that were going to get invited. Nothing was going to be for free, the drinks and the coins, yet the party would be private.

The party turned out to be fantastic. There were a lot of beautiful girls, we were dancing to beautiful music, we played billiards and pinball. We were drinking. Goran’s boss was also very satisfied. The turnover in the bar was high; many of the other people weren’t able to enter our place, so they went to the other bar owned by the same boss so he made more money there as well. All we wanted was to have fun, but at the end we thought that we could do something else as well there. That saloon used to be pastry shop, and there was a room, a former kitchen, used by the man who sold coins, drinks, and who was opening the poker machines.

It crossed our mind to open a video store in that space. This was the time when the video stores were renting illegal cassettes arriving by different channels from abroad, and then they were being multiplied, they were of bad quality yet they were cheap. The business could be started with little investments, but it wasn’t rational to get into such a business considering that we were supposed to work without any official employment, as part of the black market. At the end we were overcome by the wish to act as private entrepreneurs after leading loser lives and to have a bit of fun. We reached an agreement with the boss and we started. Of course, what we started with first were porn movies. Out of 800 cassettes we started with, 300 of them were porn movies. I was especially proud that we had all the films of Traci Lords. The most controversial and maybe the most beautiful porn diva started to shoot when she was 15 and stopped when she was 19. Afterwards she had a carrier in Hollywood when she was engaged by the king of trash John Waters. There were also art films, cult horrors. Our ambition was to create a cult place with the best music, a gathering place of the best billiards players in Zagreb, a place which would be visited by interesting people and beautiful girls. And for a short time we succeeded in doing so.

I moved almost all my stuff there: my carpet, VCR, TV, Hi-Fi. The boss said that this was now a proper little house surrounded by flowers. ‘’Your friends and the friends of your friends will be coming, which means good income.’’ I mentioned reputation, but he wasn’t interested in it. He was an elderly man who came to own the bar thanks to illegitimate activities in the firm in which he was working during the socialist era. He was visited by a famous historian who, after the first democratic elections, was a member of the Presidium of Croatia.

The idea about going to Spain lost in its importance now. In the eve of the war I was having the time of my life. The boss said that the war wasn’t going to reach our place. We were listening different music from Beatles, Stones, to Clash, Ramones and lots of soul. We were enjoying all possible vices from cigare ttes, alcohol, pot to gambling. Sometimes there was some heroin as well.

Beautiful girls, members of the golden Zagreb youth of the time were visiting us. I enjoyed fooling around

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Texte: Boris Vujkovic
Bildmaterialien: Marc Antonio Cinnoti
Cover: Marc Antonio Cinnoti
Übersetzung: Dane Licina
Satz: Dubravko Soric
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 19.04.2018
ISBN: 978-3-7438-6597-6

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