Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts

Wow, this was a truly an entertaining read about a true but difficult-to-believe story. What I liked most about The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein is that it is a page turner about Attila Ambrus, an anti-hero bank robber in Budapest while also playing as goaltender for a major professional hockey club in the city, and at the same time, the author giving background information about Hungary, the country's past and, more significantly, what eastern Europe was like during and shortly after the fall of Communism.Attila Ambrus, an ethnic Hungarian who fled Ceaucescu's Romania, robs banks and post offices in Budapest. Although we may condemn his actions, he is, like almost all of us, a product of his place and time. One cannot compare a person who grew up in a free western country to someone who was raised in an oppressive dictatorship and lived through a major revolution (Communism to Freedom overnight). Ironically, many citizens in Hungary sympathized with Attila and considered him a hero who constantly outwitted the often corrupt and disliked Hungarian authorities. Anyhow, a highly recommended read which is also a motion picture I want to see.

Title is puzzling until you're into the book. It's a page turner. Extraordinary tale.

I have read this book in 1 day. I grew up in the same area as Attila, was born about 50 KM from his home town of Csikszereda. One thing Julian Rubenstein did so perfectly, that in my humble opinion makes this book a must read for everyone, is he captured the essence of what it means to be Szekely. I am not sure if he meant to do that, but by describing Attila and the way he makes his way in the world is the same faith 650,000 other Szekelys see the world with as well. Its not something that can be described. Its something that has to be lived - yet Julian was able to describe it. I'm not a writer, as he is, so I won't attempt to, just go read the book. I am not saying what Attila did was right - but at least he always knew the difference between robbing a bank or hurting a person and he never crossed the line. Well... he was also really stupid for what he did because he lost 10+ years of his life in prison, but desperation will do a lot to a man - especially a Szekely who is born with enough pride to fill five other people.But regardless of the subject matter, absolute kudos to Julian for his writing. I hope he writes another book, I would love to read it, he is a terrific storyteller. This is shown in his dedication to the research he did about the subject matter. Finally, someone has not only managed to write a book about Transylvania and specifically about the Szekelyfold that doesn't mention the vampire folklore, but actually he took the time to understand the region and portray us in a positive light instead of one we usually are portrayed in. Backwoods, homeless, useless peasants who don't know how to tie their shoes right. Finally, someone wrote a book in which the Szekelys are portrayed as human beings. That alone makes this, IMHO, a masterpiece. But I could be just a tad biased.

I've read this book twice over the years and I really cannot get enough of it. It is by far one of the most fascinating stories that no one really knows about. Julian Rubinstein provides an accurate and concise backdrop of Hungarian history right at the beginning of the book that helps the reader put this incredible story into perspective. Post-Communist Hungary is probably the only place that the story of Attila Ambrus could have transpired. Rubinstein's humor and dry wit are entertaining without giving the impression that he is preoccupied with trying to make the reader laugh. His style is a great compliment to the events that occur. And then you have the main character, the Whiskey Robber himself, Attila Ambrus, with all his flaws and charm. In another time and place in history, you might regard him as a mere criminal, but in the context here, you can't help but root for him. I've heard rumors of a possible movie in the works, maybe with Johnny Depp as the main character. Not sure how I feel about that, but my advice would be to read the book before ever going to watch a movie about it. Honestly can't wait until I read it a third time.

The first thing that captured me about this book, was Rubinstein's writing. The book reads more like a long article than a book. Since I have very little time to devote to reading for fun lately, this made it a lot easier for me. It's just a personal preference thing...Then there is the fact that I grew up in the 90's Hungary, and I heard about Attila Ambrus but I didn't know any factual details. I was - of course - curious. I was very surprised to see a book written about him, by an American nonetheless. He didn't only portray our man, he also did an excellent job of describing the political and economical environment of the time. At the time when most of the country and business opportunities were stolen away from the people by politicians and government officials, Ambrus was an honest robber. Attila Ambrus is a character with an incredible will and talent. You just have to read his amazing story. I disagree with anyone who says no book should be written about a bankrobber. His life and story is just as worthy of paper, ink, and my money as anybody else's.I absolutely loved this book. I think you will enjoy it too. I certainly got something completely different out of it than expected.

I didn't realize that I was reading non-fiction until the end, but it is good fiction as well. Humorous, I enjoyed it. The author has done an excellent job to depict life under communism-socialism in Hungary and Romania, and the life afterwards. I am a Romanian from Transylvania and I escaped from communist-socialist Romania, (not under a train, but on my elbows and knees) and it brought me bitter memories of those hellish times. It is easy to go from capitalism to socialism, but difficult to go from socialism to capitalism, to free-market and this book is a good example of what happened in transition years.

This had been on my BTR list for a few years, so I was very pleased when my local reading group chose it for our January read. It's the unusual, sometimes strange true story of Attila Ambrus. He was born, and raised in Transylvania, Romania, but eventually sneaked over the border, and made a very unconventional life for himself in Hungary.For me, the strength of this book lies in the earlier chapters. Here the author provides the reader with a rather amusing history of Romania and Hungary. In a simplified, comedic manner, we are given certain insights into the culture, politics, and the widespread corruption that existed in this Eastern European region. Most of the ‘action’ takes place during the early to mid-1990's, when these countries where adjusting to their post-communist status. I found there were many laugh-out-loud moments to be had in the first third of the book - due to the author's sarcastic, sometimes irreverent take on historical events, though all of it loosely based on the truth.Attila was nicknamed the Whiskey Robber because he would often visit a bar, and down a few Johnny Walker's, before working up the courage to go rob a place. It has to be said that had he tried his bank/post office raids a few years before he actually started, or several years after he completed his crime spree, he probably wouldn't have got away it. He raided many places, and his modus operandi was virtually the same for each one. As a result, I found the descriptions of the build-up, execution, and escape sometimes monotonous to read. Attila was also a professional ice hockey player (sort of) so I appreciate that his sport had to be included because it was an integral part of his life, but I didn't find the subject matter particularly interesting.As you would expect, there was a major police investigation into the crimes of this individual, but I obviously don't want to reveal what happened. Suffice to say, as time marches on, the police are put under pressure to catch The Whiskey Robber - so it's at this juncture that the story picks up momentum. Unlike many fictional tales, this biography has a satisfactory ending. I note that some of my fellow readers (whose reviews I trust) gave it a five star rating after listening to the audio version - so that might be an option worth considering. Putting a couple of my quibbles to one side, I still enjoyed this book, and can recommend it. Thanks for reading my review, I hope it has been of use. 📖📚=😊

I bought this book to learn more about popular Hungarian culture in a light hearted way. I do not yet read Hungarian so I needed something in English. And I wanted to avoid "literature" in the academic sense. There is not a lot of translated "light" Hungarian reading available."The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber" is a biography of Ambrus Atilla, who, fueled by alcohol, carried out a series of bank and post office robberies in Budapest during the early post communist era. He stole the money to support a lavish life style, at a time when many of the assets from the "old" Hungary had been spirited away by untouchable politicians and other people beyond the reach of the legal system. It took a long time for the Hungarian police, badly resourced and trained, to catch him. During this time he became a folk hero to many ordinary Hungarians.It is an amusing read and I am sure you will laugh a lot if you read it. However, to an old pedant like me, some of the English is a little clumsy in places. And, when reading it, you should take a lot of it with a pinch of salt. I have a Hungarian friend who actually met him a few times and he is not possibly as nice as the book makes him out to be. However knowing this should not stop you enjoying the book.

I only came across this book by randomly searching for something that covered the Eastern-European pre/post-communism era of the 80s/90s. The moment I read within the blurb about a Romanian in Hungary robbing banks while drunk, I thought to myself 'sold'!This book covers the unbelievable life of Attila Ambrus, and his escapades which are pretty well summed up by the lengthy book title. The book also gives us a good insight into the state of Romania and Hungary at that time, and how life was beginning to change post-communist occupation. The factual information on Eastern Europe sets the backdrop brilliantly for how Mr. Ambrus was able to carry out his lifestyle, succeed, and ultimately transcend life as a criminal and become a much-loved celebrity.As others have mentioned in previous reviews, sometimes the glorification of Ambrus' antics can lose sight of how serious his actions were, but Julian Rubinstein can be forgiven for this as even some of Ambrus' victims have reminisced about what a legend he is!A fantastic tale, and a real one-off. I have never read a biographical account of any person that comes close to resembling the intriguing life of Attila Ambrus. If you enjoy reading, and you enjoy a good tale - which is about 99.7% of the population - then go forth and read this book!!!

Intense in exquisite detail, this is both a heist and history novel. The main character is drawn carefully, and the author skillfully describes an incredible set of coincidences and a spirit that turns a drunken loser into a master criminal (who is still drunk). The world he inhabits is also painted vividly, and even the plodding cop is portrayed with sympathy. The prose can be quite thick, but this is a book to be read slowly so that you catch everything.

I got this book as I’ll be going on a city break to Budapest in a week and wanted to get to know Hungarians/Budapest a bit more. This book is telling an interesting and gripping story based on true events and characters, and in the meantime describes Hungary’s post-comunist era decade in detail.I would recommend this book in a heartbeat