Bulls Before Breakfast: Running with the Bulls and Celebrating Fiesta de San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain

by Peter N. Milligan, John Hemingway (Foreword)

Ever since Ernest Hemingway popularized the fiesta de San Fermín with the publication of The Sun Also Rises in 1926, the world has been enthralled with the concept of running with the bulls. For millions, running with the bulls remains on their bucket list, and for Hemingway fans it is a lifelong dream. For Peter N. Milligan, it is a way of life. Part memoir and part travel guide, Bulls Before Breakfast recounts Milligan's many adventures in Pamplona, Spain. In his dozen years of visiting the fiesta de San Fermín, Milligan has run with the bulls over 70 times and accumulated stories both thrilling and terrifying. Bulls Before Breakfast is the definitive guide to Pamplona, its famed fiesta, and the surrounding Kingdom of Navarra. It is also a memoir of two brothers running with the bulls and exploring every corner of the city, the countryside, the mountains, the beaches, and the famed restaurants of the Basque hinterland. The book focuses on local knowledge, and the hidden mysteries of this closed, private culture and community. Milligan has slowly pried open this trove of secrets over the past twelve years, all while refining the art of getting between the horns of a massive, perfect Spanish killing machine, el toro bravo, and running for his life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Spain

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2015

About the author

Bulls Before Breakfast is the definitive guide to Pamplona, its famed fiesta, and the surrounding Kingdom of Navarra. It is also a memoir of two brothers running with the bulls and exploring every corner of the city, the countryside, the mountains, the beaches, and the famed restaurants of the Basque hinterland. The book focuses on local knowledge, and the hidden mysteries of this closed, private culture and community. Milligan has slowly pried open this trove of secrets over the past twelve years, all while refining the art of getting between the horns of a massive, perfect Spanish killing machine, el toro bravo, and running for his life.

Ever since Ernest Hemingway popularized the fiesta de San Fermín with the publication of The Sun Also Rises in 1926, the world has been enthralled with the concept of running with the bulls. For millions, running with the bulls remains on their bucket list, and for Hemingway fans it is a lifelong dream. For Peter N. Milligan, it is a way of life. Part memoir and part travel guide, Bulls Before Breakfast recounts Milligan's many adventures in Pamplona, Spain. In his dozen years of visiting the fiesta de San Fermín, Peter N. Milligan has run with the bulls over 70 times and accumulated stories both thrilling and terrifying.

Peter N. Milligan graduated from the Rutgers University School of Law—Camden and founded the Law Office of Peter N. Milligan, Esq., in 1996, where he has represented more than two thousand clients. Peter has traveled much of the country and the world—but the annual fiesta de San Fermín is his all-consuming passion. He has run with the bulls with his brother, Ari, more than seventy times in Pamplona, Spain, over a dozen years (and sometimes safely). They return annually together. Peter resides in a suburb of Philadelphia with his wife and two sons.

Reviews

[Julie Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bulls before breakfast: running with the bulls and celbrating fiesta de San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain by
For my 3000 review at Amazon I will be reading:
Not sure why this subject intrigues me but I recall black and white film from my grandparents at bull fights in Cuba back in the day...
Hemingway had first wrote of this and that's probably why I want to learn more of it. This book is about a man who's run with the bulls many times and why he continues to do it.
Last day of the running and the big fiesta is the 14th of July, run is 8 times during July and my birthday is 14th. I always thought they ran for me when I was younger, in tribute to me. Rockets blare at 8am to signal the start and the day ends in fireworks!
Love hearing the details of why they ran and the fear and adrenaline and family experience and so much more. Traditions of brothers who don't know one another.
To understand if you have to get down on the streets and experience it for yourself.
Step by step instructions all about the roadways and what to expect as far as curves, places to hide, inclines, etc.
They make plans a year in advance...crazy to hear of latest technology and taking things for granted...count the bulls!
Wow no cameras at all! So much more to do in the area. the inside tips are enclosed. Love this book for all I learned.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

[Cassandra Ulrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Milligan's "Bulls Before Breakfast" is an amazing book about the best and safest (if that's even possible) ways to enjoy the Fiesta de San Fermin in Pamplona. It is a riveting personal story of what it's like to run inches away from beasts worthy of respect. I recommend this book for those interested in learning about the history of this event and how to increase the chances of making it back home alive. Not for the weak of heart or stomach.

[Sarah-Katharine Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I describe this fascinating read as part memoir and part travel guide. The author shares stories of participating in the running of the bulls with his brother for close to twenty years and counting. His descriptions make you feel as if you are truly there, feeling the bull’s angry breath on your face and hearing the excitement and chaos of the fiestas. I have been to Pamplona, but never during the Fiesta de San Fermín. I would love to have access to a balcony to watch the fiestas from above, and avoid a highly possible trampling/gorging!

[Cassidy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun read - followed by a trip to Pamplona to see Running of the Bulls and working as a tour guide there, doesn't get much better.

Peter does a great job explaining everything that goes down in Pamplona July 6-14. Even if you are never going to step foot in Spain, the book is a fun read and details how Running of the Bulls works, the history behind, and the a lot of what the Spanish and Navarra culture has to offer.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely enjoyable book. I am well travelled, but have never done the running of the bulls, and don't have much desire to do it. But the author's enthusiasm and passion shines through, and this book is the next best thing to being there. And the book is laugh-out-loud funny. The only downside is the section on other things to do in the area-which sounds like a typical travel guide, rather then the humorous experiential book like the rest.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this because I am going to Spain and wanted to learn more about all things Spanish. The book is engaging and easy to read, but it's very specific on Pamplona. I stopped halfway after getting what I wanted out of it. If I wanted to go to Pamplona ever or run with the bulls, I would have read the whole book and found it informative.

[Tracey Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been fascinated with the Running of the Bulls. This book has a bit of everything: the history, the festival, some personal accounts and even travel advice (where to eat, for instance). I've read it out of order and enjoyed it more that way. The writing style is sometimes dry, but it's breezy and easy to follow.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting combination of travel guide, history, and personal essay. Even if you have no interest in actually going to Pamplona this is an honest depiction of what it is like.

[Barefoot Danger · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fact that this guy can put together a full sentence is about the only thing the book has going for it. He repeatedly criticizes "tourists'" actions and beliefs about Pamplona, not realizing that he does the same basic things. He thinks he's part of the culture of Pamplona, that because he can afford to spend 10 days there every year, that he's a Spaniard now, and acts as if he speaks for the people who actually live and grew up there. Obnoxious and ignorant. And every paragraph ends with an insulting joke about his adopted brother Ari, which gets old fast. If I was Ari, I'd have nothing to do with this guy. Ugh.

[Peter Sprengelmeyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Milligan is an interesting character. I was reading this mostly because I was going to run in Pamplona this year with my brother, and this book appealed to me. Peter is funny about his brother, and he does not hold back about his opinions. This is a super solid travel narrative about how to do the run, what side trips to take, and how to stay relatively safe. I definitely got more out of going by understanding what was happening in Pamplona before I went. He downplays the drunken party that is this city for a week, but this largely because he does not drink. This is a great read if you are going - but it is not Dickens or Twain.