Name: Laura Mauler's review of Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein
Item: Ballad of the Whiskey Robber
Rating: 5
Author: Laura Mauler

Julian Rubinstein

Follows the misadventures of Budapest bank robber Attila Ambrus, who struggled in his pursuit of women and a career as an untalented hockey goaltender before taking up crime, and profiles the investigators assigned to his case.

A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts

Ballad of the Whiskey Robber

Tiffanie Dang

DESCRIPTION: 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.

Laura Mauler

Our hero is Attila Ambrus, the Whiskey Robber, and he takes us on a hell of a ride. Tough times as a Hungarian living in Romania, tough times in Hungary during the waning of communism, tough times in the Wild West atmosphere of a newborn democracy. One thing that surprised me was how when our Whiskey Robber hero made his choice, he settled down into an intensely focused state of planning and research. To paraphrase him, this wasn't just walking in with a gun and taking some money, this was WORK! He was thinking about, and recording data on, factors that would never even have occurred to me. The book had me completely hooked. 

One more thing: I read an article about the audio version of this book and how it has multiple celebrities giving voice to the story, instead of a single person simply reading the book. Might be a good fit if you like audiobooks, give it a try!

Mary Rose Luksha

The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber seems so fantastical that I almost didn't believe it was true, but for the section in the middle of the book filled with photos of Attila Ambrus and others connected to him while on his crime spree.

This book wasn't just a story of Ambrus's unlawful career. It also told the story of the Eastern Bloc in the 80's and it's journey toward democracy in the 90's and early 2000's. Most of what I know of communism was gleaned from American high school history classes, so (like most other historical subjects taught in American high schools) it was biased and reductionist at best. This book demonstrates the socio and political climate that led to the possibility of 28 bank robberies taking place before the culprit was caught. And I think the author did a fine job of telling Ambrus's story without being biased on either end of the spectrum - claiming Attila had no control because of society, or claiming Attila's choices weren't fueled from necessity. As with most things, I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

The one criticism I had with the book was it's tone. There's an author interview in the back of the book and one question deals with the tone the author wrote in which I felt explained a lot. He said he was influenced by (this isn't anywhere near a direct quote...I would quote it but I already lent the book to a friend) Russian literature that found humor in morbidity. I think the author's humorous tone was a good choice considering the tragic details of much of Attila's life, I also think sometimes he went out of his way to try to make a joke and the writing felt circuitous to me. I would have to go back and re-read a few sentences or a paragraph before I was able to understand the information, and after understanding was able to laugh at the joke. Some things are so tragic they become funny, that's just a peculiar circumstance of the human condition, but I think the author tried to hard with his writing. Like he was saying, "See? This is funny!" Instead of letting the reader decide on their own what they wanted to laugh at.

Tone aside, I gave this book 4 stars because I think Rubenstein did an excellent job not just in telling the story of one man, but of a nation that made his exploits possible and even sometimes laudable.

Tiffanie Dang &
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein

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Tiffanie Dang &Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein

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Tiffanie Dang &
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein