Italian writer Gian Luca Campagna asks the Argentine people for forgiveness.

A few days ago, Italian writer Gian Luca Campagna presented the Spanish edition of his novel The Perfume of Last Tango as "a way of asking the Argentine people for forgiveness" for having celebrated the 1978 World Cup victory while ignoring the human rights violations committed by the military dictatorship .

At a press conference at the Gijón literary festival, Campagna (Latina, 1970) recalled that he was delighted with the Argentine national team's World Cup title , a celebration that was called into question by the crimes of the Military Junta , and which forced him to write a "provocative" novel in 1977, which was translated into Spanish this year.

The Perfume of Last Tango is part of a trilogy starring the anarcho-liberal and politically incorrect detective José Calcavanti , who in 2018 investigates the disappearance of children who are nephews of high-ranking military officers who had participated in the repression of political opponents of the dictatorship.

The novel unfolds in two parallel plots , with the first part based on real events about torture in clandestine detention centers and the second part being a fictional one that follows the key themes of the noir genre of intrigue and suspense about the kidnapping of children from military families.

Campagna has admitted that his novel is "very provocative" and may have raised eyebrows in Argentina, where it was met with mixed reviews , but he is convinced that literature has the obligation to "discover beauty and also horror."

He emphasized that he wrote this story "with the utmost respect" for the human rights organizations that sought the truth during critical moments of Argentina's political situation, such as the Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo .

The Perfume of Last Tango is the first novel by the Italian author to be translated into Spanish, from a body of work that includes Molto prima del calcio di rigore, Finis terrae, L'estate del mirlo selvático, Mediterráneo negro and In viaggio con la norte , among other titles.