AustLit logo

AustLit

Bela Csidei Bela Csidei i(A93730 works by)
Gender: Male
Heritage: Hungarian
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 1 y separately published work icon The Accidental Gangster : Life and Crimes of Bela Csidei Bela Csidei , Adam Walters , Norm Lipson , Double Bay : Park Street Press , 2005 Z1247335 2005 single work autobiography

'I don't know whether I found trouble or trouble found me. Whatever the case, trouble and I have been lifelong companions...Frank Sinatra, Sir Peter Abeles, Jimmy the Weasel Fratianno... big celebrities, big business, big mobsters and big politicians, from the famous to the infamous, the cast of characters almost defies the imagination.'

'Looking back on his tumultuous life, Bela Csidei, the accidental gangster, recalls a story that takes him from a childhood spent fishing with explosives and a little freelance arms dealing to holding a promissory note for $250 million dollars. From his survival of war-torn Europe to two contracts on his life, Bela emerges as a genuinely colourful character and an optimistic, loveable rogue. In spite of multi-million dollar business deals gone wrong, a drug bust, a stint as a diplomat and an espionage agent for foreign governments, an explorer for minerals, a banker, a womaniser, a shark hunter and a Mafia conduit for Australian big business, Bela has lived to spin a great yarn. As he says, With this book a few less people will die wondering...'

Source : publication summary

X