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xishimmerix's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
gianouts's review
4.0
An engaging amusing listen as an audiobook. Dramatised with great voices and the occasional sound effects this is one of the best executed audiobooks I have listened to. Attila's background and Transylvania & Hungarian history was beautifully told. 4.25/5
blevins's review
4.0
I'm on a roll with these non-fiction books recently. Let's add this one to the good ones for 2008. It's kind of a zany story about this guy named Attilla from Transylvania who moves to Budapest with no money, no hope for a future and latches onto a lower level hockey team--first as the janitor, then as the goalie despite being terrible. He ventures into pelt smuggling and finally as a bank robber.
Hungary at this time, the early to the late 1990s, was a very corrupt place post fall of the Communist bloc, so Attilla becomes a folk hero to the majority of the people and the press. The book takes a sympathetic approach to Attilla and his madcap crimes and I must admit--I was right there rooting for the guy.
I lived for a short spell in Budapest so really liked reading about the city, the people, the corruption, the Romanians, the gypsies and the wild wild west elements that was being a bank robber at this time.
Very entertaining for anyone interested in crime or oddball stories.
Hungary at this time, the early to the late 1990s, was a very corrupt place post fall of the Communist bloc, so Attilla becomes a folk hero to the majority of the people and the press. The book takes a sympathetic approach to Attilla and his madcap crimes and I must admit--I was right there rooting for the guy.
I lived for a short spell in Budapest so really liked reading about the city, the people, the corruption, the Romanians, the gypsies and the wild wild west elements that was being a bank robber at this time.
Very entertaining for anyone interested in crime or oddball stories.
snark's review
adventurous
medium-paced
4.0
I have no idea how this ended up on my TBR, but I'm glad it did! Such a quirky and larger-than-life story, but also super revealing about 1980s/90s eastern europe.
zogg's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
harriet_toad_maradona's review
3.0
a great editor could have helped rubinstein with pacing, i think. the long middle of the book was a bit tedious because rubinstein recites the details of every single heist. as the whiskey robber had a truly consistent MO, there wasn't much variation between "jobs." i did enjoy this book for everything i learned about post-Soviet Hungary, but the zany material was overworked.
rachelrie's review
4.0
Just a fun fascinating true story and you learn a lot about post communist Hungary.
danielmbensen's review
3.0
The true story about post-communism Hungary's most successful bank robber. I think it captures the gonzo spirit of the transition period (at least when I told my wife about it, she says "yup, that's what it was like") and if you had a cast of characters this colorful in fiction, nobody would believe it. It dragged a bit toward the end, though. Real life doesn't give us a clean three-act story. And the authorial voice was a bit too much "isn't eastern Europe wacky?"