Ballad of the Whiskey Robber

By: Julian Rubinstein

Narrated by: Eric Bogosian, Demetri Martin, Tommy Ramone, Jonathan Ames, Gary Shteyngart, Arthur Phillips, Darin Strauss, Samantha Power, Hachette Assorted Authors

Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

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

©2004 Julian Rubinstein (P)2006 Time Warner AudioBooks, a division of the AOL Time Warner Book Group

Critic reviews

"Rubinstein has found a story of the sort that would make even the most dry-mouthed journalist slobber. Sometimes sad, often hilarious and always absurd, Ambrus's tale microcosmically condenses the politico-historic oddities of his place and era into one entertaining and tidy narrative... With a keen eye for the ridiculous, fearlessly high-speed prose and an extraordinary wealth of reported detail, Rubinstein conducts the affair like an unusually thoughtful carnival barker."—New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

"Outrageously entertaining... An essential absurdism is never far from the surface... A rip-roaring cops and robbers saga with a Mitteleuropean heart."—San Francisco Chronicle

"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

DUH

couldn't stop listening (or laughing), fun, fun, book. it will make root for the underdog.

An Engaging Story

This book was a blast to listen to. The reader was fantastic, and it was more like theater, complete with occasional music and sound effects, than a straight reading. The introduction gave a good quick synopsis of the history of Hungary, but it was the combination of dry and almost slapstick humor that made this book sing for me. I gave my son, who is living in Europe, the actual book, and he said he was reading it on a train when a group of Hungarians recognized the title and all started talking to him about this guy (with great enthusiasm). By the end of the book, the plight of the Whiskey Robber is clearly very sad and discouraging, but it was one of the most engaging stories I've listened to.

Fact is funnier than fiction

When I downloaded this book I thought it was a novel. A Transylvanian pelt smuggling, hockey playing, bandit -- it had to be fiction. In this case fact is so much more entertaining than fiction. It is easy to start rooting for the whiskey bandit -- hoping he will take a turn for the better as he tries to make a go of living in the newly democratic captial of Hungary.

The adventures of Atilla the bandit and the Inspector Clouseau-like head of robbery who pursues him are fascinating. Meanwhile I found I learned a great deal about post-communist eastern European countries without even trying.

Great book.

Enjoyed the glimpses into Hungarian history and culture. Also enjoyed that it is a true story and entertaining. The Whisky Robber is quite the character.

Great Story!

I heard of this book years ago when I read someone's list of books they had read that they were surprised to like. I've been working my way through that list, and finally made it to this book. I am so glad I did! The best part of this biography/heist adventure is that it's true! I was thoroughly charmed by Attila, and by the end was rooting for him as much as those from his Transylvanian homeland.

Fantastc

awesome story and performance. Read 60 books this year on Audible first time I took the time to give review. Highly Reccomend

Go whiskey robber

I loved this book. You will find yourself cheering fo Atilla the Whiskey Robber. I can not wait until the movie comes out. The audio portion was one the best including the music.

great narration with flaws

I'm about halfway through the book and I love the way it's narrated with different actors and short segments of music in between.

However, while the acting and narration is good, the fake hungarian accents are distracting (and sound more russian than hungarian).
Most importantly, all the hungarian words in the book (there are many!!!) are pronounced wrong. It would have been nice to have a narrator who either learns how to pronounce the words he's reading or someone who already knows how to pronounce them.

Overall, I still highly recommend this audiobook!

A captivating listen

Written and read by the author this book captures the listener using humor and grit as it brings you into the Whiskey Robber’s world in Hungary.

What an unexpected delight!

I wouldn't have thought to listen if Audible hadn't recommend it, but it kept me in my car longer than I needed to. I found myself making excuses for time to listen. Excellent!