Ballad of the Whiskey Robber - Softcover

Rubinstein, Julian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0719563054 ISBN 13: 9780719563058

Publisher: TRAFALGAR SQUARE +, 2006

Synopsis

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. His opponents: a police chief who learned how to be a detective via dubbed episodes of Columbo; a deputy so dense he was known only by his Hungarian nickname, Mound of Asshead; and a forensics expert-cum-ballet teacher who wore a top hat and tails on the job.

Part Pink Panther, part The Unbearable Lightness of Being, part Slap Shot, this uproariously funny, award-winning book tells the remarkable story of a crime spree that galvanized a forlorn nation and made a nobody into a somebody — a tale so outrageous that it could only be true.

--WINNER, Borders 2004 "Original Voices" Non-fiction Book of the Year.

--FINALIST, 2005 Edgar Award, Best Fact Crime.

--A New York Times "Editors' Choice"

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Attila Ambrus, the Robin Hood of Eastern Europe. He’s the one-time pelt smugger, goalkeeper (possibly the worst in the history of professional hockey), pen salesman, Zamboni driver, grave digger, church painter, roulette addict, building superintendent, whiskey drinker, and native of Transylvania who’s decided that the best thing to do with his time is to rob as many banks as possible.

His rival: Lajos Varju, the Inspector Clouseau of the Iron Curtain, whose knowledge of police work comes from Hungarian-dubbed episodes of "Colombo." His deputy is nicknamed "Mound of Asshead" due to his propensity for crashing police cars. His forensics expert, known as "Dance Instructor" for his lucrative side career teaching ballet, wears top hat and tails on the job.

Welcome to Julian Rubinstein’s uproariously funny and unforgettable account of crime in the heart of the new Europe. With a cast of characters that includes car wash owners, exotic dancers, drunk Army generals, cocaine-snorting Hungarian rappers, the Johnnie Cochrane of Budapest, and a hockey team that seems to spend as much time breaking the law as they do practicing, BALLAD OF THE WHISKEY ROBBER gives us the most charming outlaw-hero since the Sundance Kid—and the Sundance Kid didn’t play hockey.

As the Eastern Bloc slips off its communist skin and replaces it with leopard-skin hot pants, BALLAD OF THE WHISKEY ROBBER is here to screw in the pink lightbulbs. Part UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, part PINK PANTHER, and part SLAP SHOT, Julian Rubinstein’s tale is a spectacular literary debut—and a story so outrageous that it could only be true.

From the Back Cover:

--Winner, Borders "Original Voices" Non-fiction Book of the Year
--Finalist, 2005 Edgar Allan Poe Award, Best Fact Crime--Finalist, 2005 Anthony Award, Best Non-fiction--Finalist, 2007, Audie Award, Best Audio Book--Film rights purchased by Johnny Depp

About this edition

• Publisher: TRAFALGAR SQUARE +
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0719563054
• ISBN 13: 9780719563058
• Binding: Paperback