Tibor Fischer

By Amy Shadbolt

Under the frog, The Thought Gang, The Collector Collector, and Don’t read this if you’re stupid. With such bizarre book titles it is difficult to imagine the kind of life Tibor Fischer must have had. But once he has told you that both his parents were Hungarian basketball players and he has spent his life travelling around the world, maybe his book titles don’t seem so weird after all. 

Speaking at the “Words by the Water” literary festival yesterday, Tibor reveals that he has had a very interesting life travelling all around the world and growing up under Hungarian born parents, both of whom played basketball for their country.

He says himself as a comic writer, though the topics of his books are often far from humorous. “Under the Frog” Tibor’s first book centres on the Hungarian civil war and the struggle for the country at the time. 

However, Tibor says that he decided to make the book humorous due to the fact that “humour played a huge role behind the iron curtain” where he worked as a journalist. He describes humour at this time as a way to go against the communist system. He also says that he enjoyed his time living in Hungary due to the fact that “everyday you see a little bit more of the communist empire crumble away. 

Tibor is hailed in Hungary as one of the great Hungarian writers despite the fact that he describes his Hungarian as “absolutely appalling” and having never written a word in Hungarian, he was shocked to find himself in an encyclopaedia. 


However, despite his history and obvious fame in Hungary, Tibor decided to set his new book “Good to be God” in Miami. He says this was because he finds Miami fascinating and finds it “very cosmopolitan, very big financial centre and hugely cultured.” He also reveals that many other authors, such as Tom Woolfe are choosing Miami for their books for much the same reasons. 

“Good to be God” is out now in all good book stores and there may even be a future movie. When asked about the possibility of making either “Under the frog” or “Good to be God” into a motion picture, he replied, “both the books are under option, but it will be very hard to get them to the big screen.”