Book Review: “The Club No One Wanted to Join – Madoff Victims in Their Own Words” (& Giveaway Ends 3/2)

The Club No One Wanted To Join-Madoff Victims In Their Own Words

Edited by Erin Arvedlund and Compiled by ALexandra Roth
229 Pages (Paperback)
Date Published: June 10, 2010

ABOUT THE BOOK:

It has been the public’s perception that Madoff investors were all extremely wealthy and all belonged to exclusive clubs. This perception has been reinforced by the media and the powers that be. The truth is, with very few exceptions, such as Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Picower and Stanley Chais-most were average, small time investors. They did not belong to exclusive private clubs or any other fancy clubs. They lived an average American life; they worked hard, contributed to society and saved for their retirement years. But in the end that was not enough. No one, it turns out, could protect them from the worst financial criminal in history, Bernard L. Madoff. As a result, they were all thrown tragically into one club none of them ever expected to join: the “club” of victims. This is their story.

It is the first book of its kind about the Madoff Ponzi scheme, in which twenty nine Madoff investors band together to tell their story without an intermediary, directly to the public and in their own words. Baring private details and exposing the truth about who the real victims are, they don’t hold back as to who really enabled the scheme to continue for forty years. The readers need to know what the authorities would rather keep from them, or else they are destined to become the next victims. The book’s message is: this can happen to anyone.

The authors are men and women just like the average reader. They come from all walks of life – blue collar, white collar- from all parts of the country and at different life stages. These are working class families, ex-multi millionaires, professionals, artists and retirees. They come from Florida, Minnesota, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, Texas and other states. They come from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. In short they are regular people, Americans who got sucked into a Ponzi scheme that even the federal government has yet to solve. They all have one thing in common: they were robbed of their life savings by the worst financial criminal in history,Bernard L. Madoff. It is time the public learns the truth.

This is a story of financial devastation, of lessons learned, of hope and rebirth. It has been more than a year since the fraud came to light and the survivors are now ready to share their experience and the hard learned lessons with the public. Though the financial disaster caused major transformations in their lives, transformations which are still ongoing, their spirit has not been broken. As one of the authors in this book summed up eloquently, “There will always be meaningful work to be done, more fun to be had and lots more people to love”. And in the end, it is the message of hope the authors wish to convey.

MY THOUGHTS:

Honestly I knew Bernie Madoff was a bad guy but I didn’t really understand what happened, and I still don’t really understand it all.  This book is a collection of “Madoff Victims” own stories, it reminds me of a Chicken Soup for the Soul type book.  The book is meant to show that Madoff victims were not rich upper-class people who had money to loose, most were regular working class Americans who lost their retirement money when they were basically ready to retire or already retired.  Many people had to figure out how to supplement their Social Security income and continue to live the lifestyle they were living, many figuring out how to get back in the job market in their 60s and 70s!  Yes their were younger victims, but for them it seems sad too because it is such a big disappointment at a young age that future choices will definitely be impacted.  The victims worked hard, long days, so when they were older they could relax a little bit, only to find out that they had to go back to work!  It was sad to read story after story, but amazingly many people had a positive outlook and were happy that they just lost money and not their loved ones.  The stories are encouraging, insightful, and while some are anti-government it just goes to show you that bad things can happen to anyone at anytime.  Now that I read this book I think I will check out a Bernie Madoff biography type book because I am so curious about the whole story and what he could have possibly spent all that money on! 

BUY IT: You can find The Club No One Wanted To Join-Madoff Victims In Their Own Words at your local bookstore or check it out on Amazon.

WIN IT: (1) US winner will receive the book “The Club No One Wanted to Join – Madoff Victims in Their Own Words”

TO ENTER: Leave a comment on why you want to read this book or who you would give it to?

Extra Entries (Only valid after you answer Main Entry above and Please leave a comment for each):
~ Follow me via Google Friend Connect (bottom of site)
~ Subscribe to Mama’s Money Savers
~ Follow Me on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (You can Tweet daily! – Or hit the TWEET Button at the top of the post!)
#GIVEAWAY: Win Book “The Club No One Wanted to Join – Madoff Victims in Their Own Words” @mamasmoney (Ends 3/2) http://bit.ly/hdrFxc
~ “Like” Mama’s Money Savers on Facebook
~ Share on Facebook (just click the Share button at the top of the post and leave a comment that you did!)
~ Follow me via Networked Blogs
~ Blog about this contest or send an email to friends/family and CC:mamasmoneysavers@gmail.com
~ Post my blog button on your site
~ STUMBLE or any other social network this giveaway
~ Enter any of my other giveaways or tell me how you heard about this giveaway!

Please leave me a comment for EACH entry. This contest ends March 2, 2011. Thanks everyone and good luck! Also, if you just put a generic comment like “I want to Win” then I will have to disqualify you. Once per household please.

Mama’s Money Savers Disclosure: I was sent this book to review but my opinions remain my own. Please see my Disclosure Policy.