The Personal History of a Book: Miljenko Jergović on Teofil Pančić's 'Metoda anđela'

The Večernji List, a prominent Croatian daily newspaper, features a literary recommendation by Miljenko Jergović, delving into the personal history of a book and its former owner.

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The history of a book is never just the history of its content. Every copy that leaves a bookstore has its own separate story.

Jergović recounts how, after the death of his friend Teofil Pančić, he inherited two boxes of books from Pančić's Zagreb apartment. These books, left behind by Pančić as a young man, represent a part of his past that he never fully processed. The author feels a sense of duty to sort through these remnants of his friend's life, a task that time has ultimately assigned to him.

The article specifically focuses on a copy of Tomaž Šalamun's "Metoda anđela" (The Angel Method), published in 1980. Jergović notes that Pančić inscribed the book with "Teofil Pančić - Zevzek VI 1981" when he was fifteen years old. The author explores the meaning of the nickname "Zevzek," a regionalism and turcism meaning "crazy" or "eccentric," suggesting that Pančić adopted it due to his self-awareness, wit, and independent spirit.

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Teofil Pančić - Zevzek VI 1981

Jergović highlights that Šalamun, already an established poet at 38 when the book was awarded the Željezara Sisak prize in 1979, was a unique figure in Yugoslav and regional literature. The article, through its personal reflection on a book and its inscription, offers a poignant look at memory, friendship, and the enduring legacy of a life, as seen through the lens of Croatian literary culture.

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He was Zevzek because he still was a boy.