“My Life and Rugby” by Eddie Jones (published by Pan Books)

Peaks, pitfalls in pursuit of perfection

One year down, three years to go. One way we measure our life here at The Budapest Times is in the four-yearly Rugby World Cups. It was in September 2019 that we watched England, coached by Australia’s Eddie Jones, demolish the hot favourites, New ...

“I Wanna Be Yours” by John Cooper Clarke (published by Picador)

What larks from one of poetry’s patriarchs

John Cooper Clarke may wanna be ours but he’s a bit late. He doesn’t know it but he’s been ours pretty much right from the beginning, when his wild poetry wended its way into our attention at the height of the punk music outbreak ...

“Owls of the Eastern Ice” by Jonathan C. Slaght (published by allen lane)

A man, a bird and a book

Slaght’s book is subtitled “The Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl”, and the feathered friend in question is the Blakiston’s fish owl, one of nature’s rarest birds. The location is Primorye, a remote corner of the world on the far eastern ...

“Born on the Fourth of July” by Ron Kovic (published by Canongate)

52 years in a wheelchair, so far

The Vietnam War was an American disaster. Iggy Pop, who performed in Budapest last year, avoided it by acting crazy at his draft hearing. Creedence Clearwater Revival sang about the “Fortunate Son”s of senators who were assigned at home instead of fighting in the ...

“Stranger Than Kindness” by Nick Cave (published by Canongate)

Magic, mostly, in this Aladdin’s Cave

We have the Royal Danish Library to thank for this handsome book displaying a splendid collection of Nick Cave kitsch and ephemera, handwritten lyrics and original artwork, archival photographs and personal possessions.

“Me” by Elton John (published by Macmillan)

Have you heard the one about Princess Diana?

“The great thing about rock and roll is that someone like me can be a star,” says Elton John, meaning that he was just an ordinary bloke from a dull London suburb. What he says is partly true – you don’t have to sing ...

“Greyhound” by C.S. Forester (published by Penguin Books)

Dogged by death in the deep

C.S. Forester died in 1966 and he is not forgotten in The Budapest Times office, where we have a nice little collection of 18 of his books. But they don’t include “Greyhound”, and in fact we were a bit puzzled when it was published ...

Six books contest UK's leading literary award

Four debuts make Booker Prize shortlist

The big news about the shortlist of six authors for this year’s Booker Prize seems to be not so much that four debut novels have been included but that two-time winner Hilary Mantel has missed out.

“The Names Heard Long Ago – How the Golden Age of Hungarian Football Shaped the Modern Game” by Jonathan Wilson

Golden Team the cradle of modern football

The most popular sport in Hungary is and will be football. Although its present state is rather poor, it can at least look back on a fabulous history.

“The Goldfinger Files. The Making of the Iconic Alpine Sequence in the James Bond Movie ’Goldlfinger’” by Steffen Appel and Peter Waelty (published by Steidl)

When Bondmania began

James Bond film number 27 will appear this November, and of the 26 so far since “Dr No” in 1962, “Goldfinger” is consistently rated one of the very best – number one (Rotten Tomatoes, Rolling Stone), second-best (the Guardian, the Independent, Reader’s Digest), third ...