The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein - 3 stars (Trim)

[Joy D]

Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts by Julian Rubinstein - 3* - My Review

Attila Ambrus escaped from Romania to Hungary during the Ceaușescu regime by clinging to the undercarriage of a train. He asked for political asylum and applied for Hungarian citizenship. In Hungary, he became a janitor for the Hungarian National Hockey team, and eventually a goalie, though he was not actually a hockey player. During the 1990s in Hungarian history, a great upheaval was occurring after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the break-up of the Soviet Union. Capitalism started taking root when many American companies expanded into Hungary. It was a chaotic time as former Soviet satellites adjusted to a new economy.

Attila’s life took several downturns (much of it due to his gambling and drinking habits) and he found himself in debt. He tried pelt smuggling for a while. In disguise, he perpetrated a string of robberies, wielding a gun but committing no violent acts, and managed to evade the police for years before being caught. This is a book of true crime, and Attila comes off as a folk hero, admired by the general public for fooling the authorities for so long. The book was reasonably entertaining as this “charming rogue” gets away with his crimes (for a while), but I am not a big fan of romanticizing criminals. The writing is rather uninspired. The author attempts to be humorous, and sometimes succeeds, but it also seems like he is exaggerating for effect. The best part for me was the history of Hungary and Romania.