Ballad of the Whiskey Robber

I loved this book. It was excellent on three levels, maybe more:

1. The bare facts of the story are wild and entertaining. You gotta love Attila.

2. The writing was superb. Julian Rubenstein has an understated writing style that allows the events and characters to speak for themselves. I'm tempted to track down some of his sports writing just to enjoy the prose.

3. The reading and production actually enhanced the already great writing. I think it was the author himself who was the main narrator--if so, he might want to consider switching careers. He's a lot more enjoyable to listen to than some voice actors I've heard. The occasional interjections of dialogue by other voices took a bit of getting used to, but I ended up loving that as well.

Highly recommended.

This book is very funny and on top of that, it's a real story. The reader is also very good. I highly recommend it.

The Whiskey Robber certainly was an interesting character and I can't help but think, had he been focused differently, what he could have accomplished. This book is narrated by the author and as usual this is not the best idea, yet there are enough other voices to enhance the storytelling. Based on a true story about a Hungarian (actually displaced Romanian) robber who becomes a Folk Hero. A truly fascinating man and his tale is entertaining.

The book reads like a novel but is actually a fact filled story. It chronicles the life of the Whiskey Robber, Attila, who apparently had some notoriety in Hungary during the late 1980's. Attila has his own imperfections, and we are were cheering for him even though we wish he could just get it together in his life. The book is generally amusing. The beginning of the book is a little slow but the book ends very well and is worth the wait. The reader could have more spring in his voice, but the many other voices that are used are excellent. Good for a light read.

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.

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!

This book is fun, quirky, intelligent, and touching. The narration adds surprise, authenticity, and silliness. The book might not be for everyone, but will be a favorite for those who like satire and oddball characters.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable "lite" read. I liked that different people spoke their parts. Quiky and fun book! It made me want to visit Hungary, and Romania...

The author/narrator is fantastic. I listened to this book three times and am still intrigued!! I'm scanning audible weekly for new Julian Rubenstein books.

I loved this story. Each time I found myself thinking, "This is too farfetched," I remembered that it's actually a true story! The reader is great and even the music, which I usually find distracting, is very professional and adds to the feel of the story.