The Madoff family’s in the news again. Ruth Madoff, wife of notorious swindler Bernie Madoff, did an interview with “60 Minutes.” Bernie was also interviewed in prison. Coincidentally, there’s a Madoff book coming out at the end of the month and one was released about a week ago. I’m not sure what to make of the two books, released within two weeks of each other. Both books were either written by or written with the involvement of the Madoff family.
The first one titled "The End of Normal: A Wife's Anguish, A Widow's New Life” was written by Stephanie Madoff Mack, the widow of Mark Madoff (son of Bernard Madoff) who committed suicide about a year ago. It was released on October 20th.
The second one titled “Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family” was written by Laurie Sandell, who had access to Bernie Madoff’s wife Ruth, his son Andrew, and Andrew’s fiance.
Stephanie and Ruth are no longer talking, and that’s probably why there are two books. Stephanie also changed her last name to “Mack” for obvious reasons. If you want the complete picture, you’ll probably have to read both books, although it sounds like they cover similar ground.
But will you? Wouldn’t buying these books put money into Bernard Madoff’s family, who may or may not have known about the ponzi scheme? I think it’s still too soon. It’s probably better for the family to stay out of the spotlight for as long as possible. Especially since people are on the fence about their involvement in the scandal, coming out with book deals won’t push any of them closer to their side.
I don’t think we’ll ever know the truth, but I’m curious to see if these books will end up on bestseller lists.
