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The End Of Normal (2011)

by Stephanie Madoff Mack(Favorite Author)

3.63 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0399158162 (ISBN13: 9780399158162)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Blue Rider Press

review 1: Bernie Madoff was a despicable individual who ruined many lives through his heartless thievery. His daughter-in-law, Stephanie Madoff Mack, by her own account, doesn't sound much better.Amid descriptions of cursing and haranguing family and strangers, she is seemingly unable to maintain a healthy relationship with any person. She threatens her mother-in-law (I'll never let you see your grandchildren again) if grandma doesn't immediately follow Mack's order to divorce Bernie, her imprisoned husband. While this is pretty much the opposite of unconditional love (Ruth and Bernie were married for 55 years), Mack somehow cloaks this as an act of "love." She goes into great detail about how she despises her hubby's ex-wife, and then there's that incident when she has to be r... moreestrained from physically striking a news reporter.She basically has no feelings for her in-laws, Bernie and Ruth, until the money stops rolling in, when she immediately hates them. When Mack's husband commits suicide, she contacts his grieving mother to let her know that she's been a terrible mother, and that it's (the suicide) all Ruth's fault for not obeying her daughter-in-law's command to end her 55-year marriage. Then she bars her from her own son's funeral.If I'm remembering this correctly, Mack follows these cold-hearted diatribes with a poison pen letter to her incarcerated father-in-law, telling him his son's suicide is (also) all his fault, and that she wants him to suffer more, as evidently the 150-year sentence imposed by the courts may not provide enough suffering to satisfy her.Ms. Mack's pain, however, is tempered through extended stays at the Madoff mansions (now hers) in Greenwich, CT, and waterfront in Nantucket, along with Manhattan condos, all presumably gained through Madoff money, as she mentions that working for his father is the only job her deceased husband ever had.The book is well written, and I am sorry for her loss, but I really hope she is not the hateful, demanding woman she sounds like in this book. If she is, she might want to consider focusing on controlling herself, not everyone around her, and might even consider showing her heartfelt concern for Madoff's victims by returning Madoff assets to those whose investments were wiped out by the ponzi scheme, and who very likely never intended their life savings to support the opulent lifestyle of one whining, self-righteous widow.
review 2: This was a poignant and touching story about the devastation and survival of a family. Strip away the money and privilege and you have a wife and mother trying to get through crisis after crisis.I listened to the audiobook which was read by the author. My eyes filled with tears many times as Stephanie's voice broke with emotion as she read her book. It was an honest biography of a woman and her husband thrust into the public arena at no fault of their own.I didn't know too much of the Bernie Madoff saga before I read this book, but it gave me a greater understanding how Bernie's actions destroyed lives. It is a shame. I highly recommend this book! less

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