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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 | 
 enlarge | Author: Julian Rubinstein
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
Buy New: $9.50
You Save: $4.49 (32%)
New (4) Used (10) from $6.62
Avg. Customer Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 587621
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.1
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
ASIN: B000Y8Y1SU
Publication Date: September 13, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Also Available In:
| • | Paperback - Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts | | • | Hardcover - Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts | | • | Hardcover - Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts |
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Book Description
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. His opponents: a police chief who learned how to be a detective via dubbed episodes of Columbo; a deputy so dense he was known only by his Hungarian nickname, Mound of Asshead; and a forensics expert-cum-ballet teacher who wore a top hat and tails on the job.
Part Pink Panther, part The Unbearable Lightness of Being, part Slap Shot, this uproariously funny, award-winning book tells the remarkable story of a crime spree that galvanized a forlorn nation and made a nobody into a somebody — a tale so outrageous that it could only be true.
--WINNER, Borders 2004 "Original Voices" Non-fiction Book of the Year.
--FINALIST, 2005 Edgar Award, Best Fact Crime.
--A New York Times "Editors' Choice"
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| Customer Reviews: Read 39 more reviews...
Brilliant! April 29, 2008
I have no idea how accurate the facts are, but this is brilliant storytelling. Think Douglas Adams in the post-Communist Eastern Bloc.
Fantastic, Hilarious...and a Bit Chilling! May 24, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a well-written, well-researched book that captures a unique moment in history and a bizarre character who's also a product of his place and time. Rubinstein goes the extra mile to follow the thread of this true-crime story, and his engaging prose takes you with him.
Great Read! April 11, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Excellent book! Great true crime story that is action packed, and very funny...plus a little bit of history!
Highly recommend this book!
An Extremely Entertaining Read January 4, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Julian Rubinstein tells the true story of Attila Ambrus, the Transylvanian-born backup hockey goalie in Budapest who also lived the life of a pelt smuggler and daring bank robber between practices and games. It was a story the author first heard about in a short news piece in Sports Illustrated in 1999 and on writing the book he's able to set the story in hilarious style against the backdrop of the changing Hungary and Romania of the early 1990s. At one point Ambrus is described as "a sizable conundrum within a notable contradiction, the best unpaid hockey goalie in a filthy-rich slum town". The photo section in the middle, the appendices and interview with the author at the end, and the references throughout to world events the west would be familiar with serve to remind us that this is largely a work of non-fiction despite all the absurdity. A great read especially for those who have visited or have lived in this part of the world in these changing times from Socialism.
A true story of the Early Transition from Socialism October 11, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As an economist who has often worked on the transition from socialism, I found this book to be the best single source of what really went on---OK, that's partly because the book is hilarious and has one of the best book covers of all time. But Rubinstein should have won a Pulitzer prize for managing to capture what was going on behind the scenes on the socio-economic front in the early years of the transition in such an entertaining way. Let's hope Atilus escapes and there's a sequel.
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