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Ballad of the Whiskey Robber : A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts by Julian Rubinstein (2005, Trade Paperback)
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- Buy It NowBallad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists Ice Hockey Transylvani
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherLittle Brown & Company
ISBN-100316010731
ISBN-139780316010733
eBay Product ID (ePID)46752599
Product Key Features
Book TitleBallad of the Whiskey Robber : A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts
Number of Pages352 Pages
LanguageEnglish
TopicEurope / Austria & Hungary, Political Ideologies / Communism, Post-Communism & Socialism, Criminals & Outlaws, Sports
Publication Year2005
IllustratorYes
GenrePolitical Science, Biography & Autobiography, History
AuthorJulian Rubinstein
FormatTrade Paperback
Dimensions
Item Height1 in
Item Weight12.5 Oz
Item Length8.2 in
Item Width5.5 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
Reviews"A whiz-bang read, hilarious and oddly touching... Rubinstein writes in a guns-ablazing style that perfectly fits the Whiskey Robber's tale."-- Salon, "A wonderful read. Rubinstein's account of the Whiskey Robber seems straight out of Hollywood and indeed it's ideal for the big screen. It's got a rogue hero, chase sequences, even those romances. Best of all for potential producers, the actor cast as Ambrus would barely need to know how to play hockey."-- Sports Illustrated, "Rubinstein's eye for whimsical detail imbues his deftly sketched cops-and-robbers saga with a rich palpability. And he keeps the story tight and lively, despite its plot twists and complex cast of characters... One heck of a good story."-- BlackBook, "Outrageously entertaining... An essential absurdism is never far from the surface... This fast-moving story is a rip-roaring cops and robbers saga with a Mitteleuropean heart."-- San Francisco Chronicle, "Masterful... A quirky, engrossing look at the chaos of post-Cold War Hungary and the growing pains of capitalism. It is a wild ride with over-the-top gangsters, pelt smugglers and cops."-- Newark Star-Ledger, "Here, the bad guys are the gentlemen, the good guys are the bumblers, and nothing is quite what it seems, but that won't keep you from laughing out loud every couple of pages. Weirdness has never been quite so winning."-- ELLE, A ripper of a crime story and it's one that can stand next to any of history's great outlaw tales... The reporting is exhaustive, the pace is fast and the main character is as bizarre as any you're going to meet. Ballad of the Whiskey Robber is a fabulous read." -- Edmonton Journal, "Mr. Rubinstein narrates all these farcical goings-on with a sad affection peeking through, even for the dumbest and most corrupt characters. But primarily he maintains that marvelously sardonic Easter European resignation, that ironic tone of voice that always seems to shrug and say, 'So, what did you expect?'"-- Dallas Morning News, "A story of the sort that would make even the mostdry-mouthed journalist slobber. Sometimes sad, often hilarious and alwaysabsurd, Ambrus's tale microcosmically condenses the politico-historic odditiesof his place and era into one entertaining and tidy narrative... With a keen eyefor the ridiculous, fearlessly high-speed prose and an extraordinary wealth ofreported detail, Rubinstein conducts the affair like an unusually thoughtful carnivalbarker."-- New York Times Sunday Book Review (Editors' Choice), "If all the world loves a romantic thief, the world will fall head over heels for Attila Ambrus. Fast paced and exquisitely detailed."-- Outside, "An instant classic... At once sad and funny, Ballad of the Whiskey Robber , a rollicking tale of the Wild East, also has a deeply compelling political purpose." -- Canada's Globe and Mail (A Best Book of the Year pick), "Marvelous. This book will stand as a vivid memento of modern Budapest's formative years."-- The Budapest Times, "Rubinstein's chronicle is performance art, a madcap joyride alongside one of the most endearing figures in the annals of bad behavior."-- Men's Journal, "As outrageous and entertaining as any piece of fiction in recent memory, Ballad of the Whiskey Robber is a page-turner almost too fantastic to believe and too engrossing to put down."-- Columbus Dispatch, " Grade: A . An all-too real political fairy tale... Underneath all the action and intrigue that makes Ballad nothing short of a page-turner, there's a subtle commentary on corruption and capitalism... With such high stakes and the story's built-in suspense, Rubinstein's Ballad never borders on a lackluster history lesson, nor does his attention to political injustices ever interrupt the fiction-like flow of Ambrus's story. Though being resigned to a life of quiet desperation was Ambrus's greatest fear, Ballad is proof that the Whiskey Robber will remain anything but irrelevant."-- Rocky Mountain News, "It's hard to imagine what journalist Julian Rubinstein thought when he stumbled across the twisted tale of Attila Ambrus, but this fascination finds riveting realization in Ballad of the Whiskey Robber , a nonfiction account of a story that must be read to be believed... Set against a rich backdrop of hope and despair, the book is a heartrending study of a character whose bungling tells the story of a world much bigger than his own."-- The Onion, AV Club, "A book that reads like some fantastic crime novel, chronicling the very real actions of an extraordinary man trying to survive and make a lasting name for himself in transitionary times... Ballad is a rollicking crime story, a commentary on the effects of the fall of communism on the former Easter Bloc, and a beautiful portrait of historic Budapest."-- Small Spiral Notebook, "The pace, ingenuity and comical sense of the absurd deployed to tell the story ice hockey player and bank robber Attila Ambrus makes this book read like a novel. But Attila Ambrus is real... His extraordinary story is told here with a hint of Louis de Bernieres and a lot of panache."-- Daily Mail (UK), "One of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. Ever. In fact it's one of the best non-fiction books I will ever read. It's that good."-- Harvard Bookstore Staff Pick, "The antagonistic protagonist of Julian Rubinstein's picaresque romp is a real person who defies belief... Rubinstein rides the momentum in appropriately riotous fashion, but he wisely never lets his vivid style overshadow a tale that burns up the pages on its own momentum. Nor does he succumb to sentimentality when exploring the tale's pathos--and believe it or not, there's as much of that as there is burlesque. A memorable tragicomedy." -- Boston Globe, "Never was there a more entertaining case history of the fall of communism... Wholly enjoyable."-- Kirkus Reviews, "Truth is still stranger than fiction... This is a Hollywood film waiting to be made, a crazy outlaw caper from the Wild, Wild East ."-- Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "Julian Rubinstein has found what every writer craves: a larger-than-life character whose adventures veer from rollicking to comical to heartbreaking... Ambrus's arc and all of its attendant absurdity tends to parallel that of Eastern Europe itself: the desperation, the sense of opportunity after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Wild West euphoria, the deep-seated corruption, and finally, the brutal hangover after the long bender. Studs Terkel eat your heart out."-- Boldtype, "Rubinstein has a knack for vividly portraying his stranger-than-fiction characters... By turns hilarious and incredible, this stuff just can't be made up."-- Maxim, "Readers who normally shun nonfiction will embrace the story for the marvelous storytelling and terrific characters... In short, Rubinstein is a terrific storyteller."-- Boulder Daily Camera, "A beautifully crafted tale... In Rubinstein's deft hands, Attila becomes a great tragicomic character." -- Denver Post (Best Books of the Year Pick)
Dewey Edition22
Dewey Decimal364.15/52/092 B
SynopsisDESCRIPTION: Elmore Leonard meets Franz Kafka in the wild, improbably true story of the legendary outlaw of Budapest. Attila Ambrus was a gentleman thief, a sort of Cary Grant--if only Grant came from Transylvania, was a terrible professional hockey goalkeeper, and preferred women in leopard-skin hot pants. During the 1990s, while playing for the biggest hockey team in Budapest, Ambrus took up bank robbery to make ends meet. Arrayed against him was perhaps the most incompetent team of crime investigators the Eastern Bloc had ever seen: a robbery chief who had learned how to be a detective by watching dubbed Columbo episodes; a forensics man who wore top hat and tails on the job; and a driver so inept he was known only by a Hungarian word that translates to Mound of Ass-Head. BALLAD OF THE WHISKEY ROBBER is the completely bizarre and hysterical story of the crime spree that made a nobody into a somebody, and told a forlorn nation that sometimes the brightest stars come from the blackest holes. Like The Professor and the Madman and The Orchid Thief, Julian Rubinsteins bizarre crime story is so odd and so wicked that it is completely irresistible., An award-wining and "outrageously entertaining" true crime story ( San Francisco Chronicle ) about the professional hockey player-turned-bank robber whose bizarre and audacious crime spree galvanized Hungary in the decade after the fall of the Iron Curtain. During the 1990s, while playing for the biggest hockey team in Budapest, Attila Ambrus took up bank robbery to make ends meet. Arrayed against him was perhaps the most incompetent team of crime investigators the Eastern Bloc had ever seen: a robbery chief who had learned how to be a detective by watching dubbed Columbo episodes; a forensics man who wore top hat and tails on the job; and a driver so inept he was known only by a Hungarian word that translates to Mound of Ass-Head. Ballad of the Whiskey Robber is the completely bizarre and hysterical story of the crime spree that made a nobody into a somebody, and told a forlorn nation that sometimes the brightest stars come from the blackest holes. Like The Professor and the Madman and The Orchid Thief , Julian Rubinstein's bizarre crime story is so odd and so wicked that it is completely irresistible. "A whiz-bang read...Hilarious and oddly touching...Rubinstein writes in a guns-ablazing style that perfectly fits the whiskey robber's tale." -- Salon, Part Pink Panther, part Unbearable Lightness of Being, part Slap Shot, this uproariously funny, exuberantly praised book tells the story of Attila Ambrus, a professional hockey goalkeeper (possibly the worst in the sports history), gravedigger, roulette addict, whiskey drinker (with a fondness for women in leopard-skin hot pants), and native of Transylvania who became Hungarys celebrated gentlemen thief, the most charming outlaw-hero since the Sundance Kid.
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