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 Used: $0.17
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Avg. Customer Rating:  45 reviews
Sales Rank: 40313
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 0316010731
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9780316010733
ASIN: 0316010731
Publication Date: September 13, 2005
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Shipping: International shipping available
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| • | Hardcover - Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts | | • | 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 |
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Product Description
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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| Customer Reviews: Read 40 more reviews...
 Ballad of the Whiskey Robber June 28, 2008
I'm afraid I didn't get to the end of this tedious tale. It was so badly written that I lost interest very quickly. Repetitious, lacking credibility and sloppily structured, it also lacked credibility.
It has got rave reviews and sounded promising. But having lived in post-communist Hungary, there is nothing romantic about bank robbers or any criminals.
I was living half-way up a mountainside in rural Spain but even that didn't spur me on to finish.
Good robbers don't necessarily make good writers and with his ill-gotten gains he would have been better to invest in a ghost writer.
Sorry, it gets a thumbs down from me.
 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.
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