Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family

by Laurie Sandell

In December 2008, the world watched as master financier Bernard L. Madoff was taken away from his posh Manhattan apartment in handcuffs, accused of swindling thousands of innocent victims—including friends and family—out of billions of dollars in the world’s largest Ponzi scheme. Madoff went to jail; he will spend the rest of his life there. But what happened to his devoted wife and sons? The people closest to him, the public reasoned, must have known the truth behind his astounding success. Had they been tricked, too? With unprecedented access to the surviving family members—wife Ruth, son Andrew and his fiancée Catherine Hooper—journalist Laurie Sandell reveals the personal details behind the headlines. How did Andrew and Mark, the sons who’d spent their lives believing in and building their own families around their father’s business first learn of the massive deception? How does a wife, who adored her husband since they were teenagers, begin to understand the ramifications of his actions? The Madoffs were a tight-knit—even claustrophobic—clan, sticking together through marriages, divorces, and illnesses. But the pressures of enduring the massive scandal push them to their breaking points, most of all son Mark, whose suicide is one of the many tragedies that grew in the wake of the scandal. Muzzled by lawyers, vilified by the media and roundly condemned by the public, the Madoffs have chosen to keep their silence—until now. Ultimately, theirs is one of the most riveting stories of our a modern-day Greek tragedy about money, power, lies, family, truth and consequences.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Business, Memoir

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Laurie Sandell has written for Esquire, GQ, Glamour, Marie Claire and InStyle, among others, and has contributed cartoons to New York, Glamour, and the Wall Street Journal. Her first book, the graphic memoir The Impostor’s Daughter, was nominated for a 2009 Eisner Award. Her new book, Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family, was published by Little, Brown on October 31, 2011. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Reviews

[Judy Nadler · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a book about Catherine Hooper (the girlfriend of Bernard Madoff's son Andrew), her incredible brilliance, resourcefulness, and all around "fabulousness". The narrator reads the story with the breathiness appropriate for a romance novel when talking anything Catherine. Her tone changes to one of utter disgust whenever discussing Mark (Bernard Madoff's other son who committed suicide) or Mark's widow Stephanie. I guess the narrator was directed to do so because Catherine's doesn't like them (?) but it is very disconcerting. Do not buy this book if you are looking for insight into the Madoff scandal or the Madoff family (as I was). I stuck with the book to the end hoping to find a bit, but it provides none whatsoever. On the other hand if you are interested in learning about how wonderful Catherine Hooper is, this is the book for you.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

In December 2008, Bernie Madoff, once considered a premiere fancier, was arrested for the largest ponzi scheme in U.S. history. Although the country had in recent history witnessed several massive corporate fraud cases as the economy spiraled downward and, in some respects, wasn’t surprised by another, somehow the Madoff scandal was different. The reason was Madoff’s family. The two men who walked in that day and reported Maddoff to the authorities weren’t disgruntled investors. They were Maddoff’s own sons, Mark and Andrew.

At first glance, Mark and Andrew seemed to be heroes who had been forced to do the unthinkable all in the name of justice. Even though they had reported Bernie, the fact remained that the two men had worked side-by-side with their father for over twenty years. Everyone, especially the investors who were collectively out over $50 billion, wanted to know: How could Mark and Andrew have not known about Bernie’s ponzi scheme? For most, the answer was simple. The fraud was a family affair. The sons battled rumor, proclaimed their innocence explaining they worked in a separate part of the company, and were never charged with any crime, but the daily scrutiny and speculation would take its toll. In the end, as Bernie sat in prison where he was sentenced to 150 years, his once tightly knit family would fall apart.

Truth and Consequences goes behind the headlines to detail the personal effect Bernie’s actions brought to Mark, Andrew, and his wife, Ruth. Told primarily from the accounts of Andrew and his fiancée, Catherine, Sandell portrays a family that were just as much victims of Bernie as the investors who lost their entire savings. She details Mark and Andrew’s privileged childhood, their close bond with each other and with their mother, and the respect and intimidation they had for their father. Andrew and Mark, according to Sandell, felt shock, horror, and betrayal as their father confessed to them that his entire business was a lie. Whatever anger they felt towards Bernie couldn’t compare to the anger they felt towards their mother who, although supposedly innocent of the fraud, chose to stay with Bernie. The brothers felt their mother had failed to protect them and worse, had chosen Bernie over them. After Bernie is imprisoned, you follow along as Andrew, separated from his first wife and now in love with Catherine, picks himself up to begin a new life while Mark, fixated on the nasty and speculative headlines implicating him and his brother, falls deeper and deeper into despair and misery, eventually committing suicide on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest.

Truth and Consequences is certainly an easy and entertaining read, but I did not feel like I was getting the whole truth. Whereas before I may have believed the brothers’ innocence in the fraud, Sandall’s syrupy sweet account of Andrew makes me doubt him. One doesn’t have to be painted as a choirboy in order to be innocent of fraud and when you go to that extreme, it leaves a foul smell in the air. Sandall’s portrayal of Catherine was even worse and at times, I wondered if this was her application for sainthood. (The reader learns early on that it was Catherine who approached her to write this book. Not surprising and I would be even less surprised if I heard Andrew and Catherine hired her to do so.) Moreover, in this account there are obvious “monsters” in the family other than Bernie. Mark’s wife and, at times, even Mark get a heavy hand by Sandall. In the end, there was good background and descriptions of the events and how the family dealt with it, but the one-sidedness of it all felt disingenuous.

[CD · Rating 2 out of 5]

An only moderately well written self serving personal/first person account of the greatest Ponzi scheme in history.

Remarkably unapologetic for the most part and not overly complementary of any of the players. One or two even come off as 'bad guys' and they didn't have anything to do with the main action.

There are a few tidbits and maybe hints of insight into the life and behavior of patriarch Bernie that might tell us something. It is doubtful. Bernard appears to always have been living pretty much the way he was right up close to the end. That his wife never 'doubted' him and in interviews they 'tried to commit suicide' but failed, isn't any more believable than much of this book.

Worth borrowing from the library, a friend, or spending a few minutes reading free excerpts; not much more. Certainly readers must question if they wish to contribute support to any portion of this family or their defense funds.

O.K. as a memoir of observers to such a huge historical even and crime. Beyond that it is poorly crafted and executed.

[Jeannine · Rating 1 out of 5]

If the intention of this book was to generate sympathy for the family, all it succeeded in doing was make this bunch look pathetic. Then again, maybe they just needed some cash. And the writing was quite amateurish.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biographies of famous men and women often give us insight into possible consequences of illegal or immoral actions by a family member. The family is a system and when a system goes haywire everyone gets hurt. In this case one goes to prison and one hangs himself. There are many aspects of the Wall Street lifestyle which are illuminated here: first is the Ponzi scheme, the planned destruction of the lives of ones closest friends, another is adulterous affairs which is also the cause of the destruction of those one holds nearest and dearest, ones spouse and ones children. You just never know what you'll find when you delve into a biography. What I did enjoy in reading this book was all the information on fly-fishing and I liked Bernie's family as portrayed by Ms. Sandell. They were victims too. The author has taken a sympathetic approach in telling the story of the Madoff family. It is a sad story well reported.

[TC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reconstructs conversations and at time reads like a novel. It is primarily the story of Life with Bernie and Life After the Fall of Berne told from the perspective of his surviving son Andrew, Andrew's fiancé Catherine, and Bernie's wife of fifty years, Ruth. Unsurprisingly, they and the other people who participated in the author's interviews come across as very much victims of Bernie, their reputations unfairly ruined by an obsessive yet sloppy press and a vengeful public; and those who were not interviewed--some ex-wives, for example, his brother Peter, and of course Mark Madoff, the older son who committed suicide on the second anniversary of his father's confession--come across as more conflicted, or perhaps just annoying. There are a lot of family dynamics here, for sure, and if the scandal had never broken, it would make a great plot for a long-running prime time soap opera on the rich and crabby.

Regardless of whether this is an accurate account or a brilliant PR job, it's still compelling, and, interesting--particularly the story near the middle that focuses on Catherine's attempts to fit in with a family that was somehow simultaneously sophisticated, yet crass. Once again, for a crowd that was supposedly well-heeled and connected, they come across as little more than a bunch of kvetchers having dinner at Grossingers. That a woman of great independence and entrepreneurial spirit like Catherine should be reduced to a self-conscious wreck trying to impress such a family because of the man she loves is in itself a fascinating story of what love will do.

As for Bernie himself, despite intimate portraits painted by those who lived with him their whole lives, his motives are no more clear than they were before. It is still hard to tell if he was a brilliant sociopathic evil genius, or just a neurotic schmendrick who got lucky. The author herself admits as much at the end, saying he's still a "mystery." However, the constant stories of his obsessiveness with neatness (a trait pointed out in other books, but here spelled out in many anecdotes) makes it sound like being around him in general was just a plain painful experience.

No doubt that in addition to Bernie's financial victims, there are many people who are his indirect victims. His brother and sons helped him run a legitimate trading and market-making business that hundreds of people worked for; and those people probably have to leave those years off their resumes because everyone will assume they're co-conspirators in the largest criminal fraud in history. Madoff's family have the additional burden of not only sharing that work experience, but also of sharing the name. This book helps one realize that that itself is not a crime, despite the fact they'll be punished for it for the rest of their lives.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A non-lurid, non-sensationalized account of the intricacies and quirks of the Madoff family dynamics both between Ruth and Bernie but also between Andrew and Mark and their respective wives/ex-wives/partners. If the book weren't so unabashed in its biased presentation of Catherine Hooper (Andrew Madoff's fiancee)'s side of the story, it might have been much more compelling. But as such, it felt like a paean to the resourceful, witty, strong, gorgeous Catherine Hooper, mostly because the author relied on her (and Andrew and Ruth) so much for information. She and Andrew are the only rounded characters in the story. Mark Madoff is presented as completely neurotic and irascible, going "apoplectic" every five pages, Stephanie Madoff conniving and backbiting witch trying to stymie Catherine at every turn. Bernie's character secondhand appears as obsessive compulsive, controlling but at the same time generous and avuncular. Even so, the book gives a sense of the humanity of the Madoff sons (and their children) in particular, and knowing the fate of Andrew Madoff who succumbed last year to lymphoma, made the book seem even more poignant, to know of his desire far before the fraud was exposed to live apart from that world, pursuing simpler things like fly-fishing, helping out with Lymphoma research, cycling. Ruth Madoff's character also is fleshed out in greater detail than other accounts--a woman with a dry sense of humor, but totally lost without the gravitational field of her husband. If you get over the more nauseating paragraphs about Catherine Hooper coordinating her outfits to take on Bernie's yacht, the book is worth a read.

[Lenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Laurie Sandell explores the inner relationships of the Bernie Madoff family. Not a family that would be much fun to be a member of!

[Sandy Ortega · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected. When I heard about the Madoffs I figured the whole family were involved. After reading this, I realize they really didn’t know. This family may have had money but they had their own issues and some dysfunction going on like any other family. But, it really opened my eye on the family dynamics and how everything happened.

It made me sad to see how much be father destroyed a whole family.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

There probably were very few people who didn’t vilify Bernard L. Madoff in December 2008 when it was learned that he and his Bernard L. Madoff Securities Investment LLC had swindled thousands of people, including family, friends, small businesses and non-profits, out of over $55 million in a great Ponzi scheme. And that included his two sons and his wife, at least originally.

Through the eyes of one surviving son, Andrew, his fiancé Catherine Hooper, plus Bernie’s wife Ruth we follow their lives before, during and after the implosion of Madoff Securities. Why would we want to do so? Sometimes we learn more about what happened from the closest people to the situation. Luckily I didn’t have anything connected with this investment firm but I have had past experience with family touched by a Ponzi scheme and know of its devastating effects. And I wanted to know how one could do such a terrible thing or allow it to happen if you knew it was going on.

The author explains her rational for writing this book. She was the daughter who wrote the non-fiction book The Impostor’s Daughter in 2009. Her “charming Argentine father was in fact a pathological liar and con artist. Instead of working for the CIA, as I’d long suspected, he’d lived off stolen cash from friends and family. His college degrees were forged, his heroics in Vietnam invented. The revelations threw a grenade into the middle of our family and caused a rift that has yet to heal: My mother denied what I’d written and refused to read the manuscript; my father stopped speaking to me. Still, I knew that the consequences of remaining silent were greater than those of telling the truth. So I wrote the book in spite of my family’s protests.”

After being approached by Catherine Hooper to write a book about the Maddoffs our author agrees to do so to give the affected parties a voice. The chapters are told from various family perspectives – Ruth, Andrew and Catherine — beside what could be gleamed from public records.

And it is a family that has begun to crumble even before December 2008. We are shown a meek Ruth who is behind her husband and does not nor will not question his decisions. We watch as one son, Andrew, tries to leave the firm to handle his own businesses which leads to confrontations with his brother Mark and father Bernie who want to keep him close. And when Catherine enters the picture she finds that Bernie is so controlling he could be labeled an obsessive/compulsive person. I loved the part about how Bernie would get on his knees every day to be sure his blinds were exactly straight along all his windows.

The first son Mark does not come off well – he seems to have been a manic-depressive sort who would blow up even with his loved brother and ended up taking his life on the second anniversary of Mark and Andrew turning in Bernie. Couldn’t he handle that he did the right thing by turning in his father? What would this book have been like if we heard from him personally?

A family in turmoil but does it answer who really knew what? I know how I felt after reading this book but does that make it any better for the victims? Maybe not but I do get a feel for how this financial scheme could have been hidden for those many years from even close ones. Sometimes looking beyond the headlines helps know those behind the headlines.

[K2 ----- · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although people have been hypercritical of this book I found it to be an interesting look at the interior workings of a wealthy family whose patriarch destroyed the financial lives of too many to count. Bernie Madoff was a man who charmed and swindled, who obviously have many of his own demons that came out in the way he interacted with his family throughout their time together and struck most outsiders as extremely odd.

Sandell, the book's author, is the daughter of a man who was not as he appeared and has written about in her book "The Imposter's Daughter." The Madoffs came to her thinking she would be able to understand the trauma they had endured like few others might. Certainly the idea that this book has "spin" is not to be discounted but not everything in it is rosy. Other readers have been critical that it is a book that glorifies Catherine, Andrew Madoff's fiancee, perhaps so but few would want to trade places with anyone in this book.

I found it to be a compelling read and although it was a major voyeuristic read I am less critical of it than some were. I had perhaps less background that someone on the E. Coast about the story. I came to the book just curious how someone could live amid all this and not know. I recall many moons ago reading Marge Piercy's book Fly Away Home and wondering how well you can ever know another person.

The downward spiral of Mark Madoff's life ending in his hanging himself in his apartment while his young son slept was particularly poignant and sad.

Indeed the rich are different but this level of wealth rarely brings with it "nice family stories" and indeed this ponzi scheme took down with it more money than even Worldcom. The real numbers weren't detailed here and many other things weren't, but that wasn't what the book was aiming to do.

I think it was successful at taking one inside a broken family system who are now left to begin again with new focus and goals.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would rather give this book a 3.5, but I'm not rounding up to a 4. First off, you should know that this is not the story of Bernie Madoff. It's the story of the people closest to him who got hurt in the aftermath of his arrest: his family. This is the story of his wife Ruth, his sons Andrew and Mark, and his daughters-in-law and grandkids. Their lives were uprooted and changed in the face of one man's betrayal. As author Laurie Sandell portrays them, these people were victims of Bernie Madoff, too. I found it interesting that Laurie Sandell wrote a book about how she suffered at the hands of her father's betrayal and that book is what brought her and the remaining Madoff family together. I think her unique perspective on this topic definitely made her a worthy candidate to pen this book. However, after awhile, I got really tired of reading about all these designer clothing names that these people wore. I get it. We needed to see that BEFORE all this happened, they were used to the finer things in life. And now they buy furniture from IKEA!! But it was still annoying and a little off-putting. Also, many times it seemed like I was just reading a transcript of a conversation, and I guess what I wanted was a little more of a story. It was a very "talky" book.

[Lynelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was surprisingly great. Almost on a topic that I've never had much interest in, but really the author did a great job. I love journalists who write great novels and when their writing makes you think about them as they're doing their job. And what it might be like to be awesome like that one day right!! Yes! I am eager to read Laurie Sandell's first novel about her own life, and just as eager for her to write about the life of someone else. I was impressed. And as for the Madoff's. . . yeah they were still richer than most people I know after it was all said and done. And I mean, I feel them it was way harsh what went down but I think their dad did love them. And they should be grateful for the awesome lives they were able to live. People don't live like that you know. Plus, daddy was about as gangsta as they come. If you're gonna do it, do it big. He wasn't a petty criminal. But yeah. Great book. Well written. Page turner. Finished it in 3 days - haven't done that in over 10 years!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had this book on my shelf for a while now. Part of me was hesitant to read it. I felt like I was giving money to the Madoff family and therefore helping them out, and condoning the crime. Its hard to tell if this book is entirely true or partially tweaked but Andrew, Catherine and Ruth seem to be frank and honest in "Truth and Consequences" The book creates a mix of emotions you feel bad for them and the life they are living as a result of Bernie's crime. However I have met so many Madoff victims that have lost everything, I found myself wondering what they thought of the book. After seeing interviews with Stephanie Madoff for her book and reading the heartbreaking section on Mark's suicide I can only think I wish I knew what was going on in his mind. The Madoff story is a soap opera or greek tragedy for everyone involved. This book is a compelling look inside that drama. Even a person barely interested in finance, business and politics will find this book fascinating for the "characters" and drama.

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is what happens when people are well-connected, but not quite well connected enough to get the real story. Although Laurie Sandell did get access to Ruth and Andrew Madoff (a coup to be sure) - this book is a surface-level only visit inside the Madoff machine.

Lacking in virtually any numbers or factoids, the real gems of the book are the photographs. We see a family just like any East Coast family - in hazy shots going back to Ruth and Bernie's youth. I'll give my kudos to the author for getting access to these personal shots.

There is so little substance in the book it just seemed to take forever to read, nor could I remember the title the entire time I spent reading the words and not looking at the pictures. I am ready for a meatier look inside the horrific financial fail Madoff represents in world history.

While I was reading the book Andrew Madoff, the surviving son after Mark's suicide, lost his life to lymphoma, a cause he supported after first falling ill over a decade ago. A sad family indeed.

[Todd Janko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been interested in con-artists, especially good old Bernie Madoff (he's at a lower level than Ben Bernanke, but still it's a good read). This is an extremely well written book by Laurie Sandell, and you may even feel sorry for sorry for some of the family members. One thing I want to point out here, this really is not about Bernie Madoff, this is about his family and the after math of the whole 50 BILLION (yes billion) scam he had going on since the mid 80's. It's a sad story, one son kills himself, yet at the same time, one son is beating the scrutiny and adversity thrown to him by peers and wolves, and leading a somewhat normal life. If you have ever been scammed or just want to read a true blood American scam heart breaking story; this is the book for you.

[Alan Wang · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel that the author has too close of a relationship with her interview subjects to write an impartial account of events. Even up until the day that Andrew Madoff died, authorities were still investigating him and his brother for ties to their father's ponzi scheme. Nevertheless this is still an interesting read. Provides perspective to how family members of a heinous criminal must react and cope with such an unfortunate situation.

Another reason I hate this book - I accidentally returned it to NYPL but it's actually a Queens Library book. It took ~5 months for NYPL to transfer the book back to Queens and in the meantime I incurred like $35 worth of overdue fees. Bureaucracy makes the world go round, just...very slowly

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad. Everything in this book is just...sad. Like Shakespearean-tragedy sad. Bernie Madoff - who shows little to NO remorse. When asked what would happen to their family and friends, who lost everything thanks to his Ponzi scheme? "They'll be fine."
No Bernie, they are not fine. They are broke, going back to work in the 70's, and completely devastated.
The family is torn apart - one son kills himself. Andrew and Ruth seem to be picking up the pieces but Ruth still hasn't left Bernie. Mark's wife and ex wife seem pretty awful. And his four kids...just...sad.
I am glad i read this book - the Madoff case is fascinating. And tragic.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

After an 8 hour shift at work, I sat down and read this book cover to cover, in one sitting, in a little over 5 hours.

I found the truth and honestly displayed in the book more than I thought would be present. Sandell goes through the family history, the tense and backhanded family interactions, the illogical thinking of Madoff senior and the ramifications of everyone involved in such an engaging manor that I felt I WANTED to finish the book in curiosity.

If you're curious about the inside of the Madoff family and how the they managed the insanity of the world's best constructed Ponzi scheme to date, read this book. It will make you value your family, no matter how crazy or poor, more.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know we all know this story and it is out of the news now but I ran across the book this week and sat down to see what it was. I was pulled in and by the way Sandell writes the story. It reads almost like you are friends with the family and you are talking to them about what happened. This is the personal side of what happened to children and grandchildren who did not question their rise to the top. Who believed in their father and his business abilities and were not prepared for their fall to the bottom. It is very readable

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing feels hasty and unimaginative, and the subjects are almost universally unlikeable. Interesting mostly because of the shocking egocentrism and total lack of perspective it portrays--not of Madoff himself, who was not involved with the book, but of his family members, who are nearly all unable to perceive "consequences" for anyone but themselves. The younger son, Andrew, is the only one who comes out looking human. Not horrible, but not recommended for any but the morbidly curious.

[Erin Varnado · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really opened my eyes to how much the Madoff family was vilified. It's really sad that they were held accountable for actions of their father/husband. Everyone has someone in their life that does things we don't agree with, but that doesn't mean we should be held responsible. The first half was a little difficult to get through as it sets up the history of the family. You really need to have an open mind to read this book though.

[Southerngal888]

I found this book very interesting and well-written. It is supposed to be life inside the Madoff family from an outsider author but it did leave out big chunks such as the people who were affected by the actions of B. Madoff. The book tries to come across showing that the 2 sons who worked for B. Madoff were not knowledgable about the goings on of ripping off people friends family with the Ponzi scheme. Have you read it? I do like to read bios and historical type as well as fiction.

[Wendy Gorringe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it to be an interesting look at the inner workings of a wealthy family whose father destroyed the financial lives of too many to count.It was written by a woman whose father was also not what he seemed and she wrote a book about her father called "The Imposters Daughter." I also read "The End of Normal" by another Madoff family member which gave a slightly different version of what happened.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa!!'n

This book blew my mind right in half!

There are so many family dynamics at play here it's truly riveting. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. There's just a teeny voice in my head that is saying that Andrew and Catherine were slightly posturing in their version of it: posturing to paint themselves in a bright pure light of perfection. Either way it is an amazing book. Expert writing skills

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I didn't know much about the whole Madoff scandal until I read this book and I thought it was interesting. I liked the pictures that were in the book and helped me identify with the characters. I know that is was biased because it was mostly from Andrew and Catherine but I like it and read easily.

[Tu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story got me thinking a lot. Somehow it made me think of my dad who is not as horrible as Bernie but it wouldn't be too much to describe him as "incapable of being sincere" either. And I think if there was one thing I could learn from Andrew, that would be his strive/willingness to start over again and to never give up no matter what.

[Caron · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good quick read. The author tries to gain sympathy for family members by providing evidence that the did not know what Bernie was up to. it is still hard to believe they did not have some inkling. Hard for those of us in the "real" world to understand squandering all that money and then ask for sympathy.

[Lindz · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's hard to feel sorry for these people. It was interesting to get a look in on the narcissism. But the book was basically about how wonderful Catherine Hooper is and what a with Stephanie Madoff is. How can really blame Stephanie if she was thinking about getting a divorce. She tried to get mark to move on and he wouldn't.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author does her best to convice you that the Madoff family (aside from Bernie) were just as much his victims as the people who lost everything because of his ponzi scheme. It's nearly impossible to feel sorry for them, and the author is a little too fawning over the son Andrew and his fiancee Catherine to be able to convince the reader otherwise.