Self-effacingly clever and brave, Banksy’s Wall and Piece is—well, it’s different. It’s graffiti, it’s performance art, it’s an essay. Banksy takes aim at social constructions, “normal” ideas, propriety, culture. This book is full of powerful thought. Whether or not you agree with any of the statements Banksy paints into existence and shapes into form, the stuff makes you think (and then re-think).
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives,
by Julian Rubinstein Back Bay Books
Our Price: $13.95
Attila Ambrus may not do so well with relationships -- or hockey or gambling or drinking -- but when it comes to robbery (in Hungary in the 1990s), he is the indisputable king.
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber is one of the best non-fiction books I've read. Ever. Hands down. In fact, it's one of the best non-fiction books I will ever read -- it's that good. By some outrageous fluke, Ballad marries truly excellent writing (that of Julian Rubinstein) to an outstanding true story (that of Whiskey Robber Attila Ambrus), a phenomenon that happens all too rarely.
Trying to find his way in world and piece together a living, Attila Ambrus stumbles upon the fact that his quick mind is suited perfectly to robbing banks and post offices. It's a long story, a funny story, and a heart-wrenching story, so I won't give away any more. Suffice it to say that Julian Rubinstein is an excellent storyteller, and Attila Ambrus is a perfect story-maker. This is a book that you must read. Now.
