The End of Normal

De: Stephanie Madoff Mack

Narrado por: Stephanie Madoff Mack

An explosive, heartbreaking memoir from the widow of Mark Madoff and daughter-in-law of Bernard Madoff, the first genuine inside story from a family member who has lived through - and survived - both the public crisis and her own deeply personal tragedy.

When the news of Bernard Madoff 's Ponzi scheme broke, Americans were shocked and outraged, perhaps none more so than the unsuspecting members of his own family. After learning that their father's legendarily successful wealth management company was "all just one big lie", Mark and Andrew Madoff turned their father in and cut off all communication with both parents.

Mark and his wife, Stephanie, strove to make a fresh start for the sake of their two young children, but Mark could not overcome his sense of betrayal and shame - he and other family members were sued for $200 million in October of 2009. He hung himself on the two-year anniversary of his father's arrest. Left to raise her children as a single mother, Stephanie wrote this memoir to give them a sense of who their father really was, defend his innocence, and put her personal statement on record once and for all.

In this candid insider account, she talks about her idyllic wedding to Mark on Nantucket, what it was really like to be a part of the Madoff family, the build-up to Bernard's confession, and the media frenzy that followed. It is about the loss of the fairytale life she knew, adjusting to life with a man she hardly recognized anymore, and the tragic and final loss of her husband.

©2011 Stephanie Madoff Mack (P)2011 Penguin

Riveting story of a family disaster

After Bernie Madoff became the most hated man in the world and by extension his sons were considered that too, the brothers created a rift between them when they should have stuck together. The narration was great as it was read by the author herself and she doesn't hesitate to reveal her feelings! Her husband is just as bad when it comes to dealing with a family crisis. He gave his mother an ultimatum either to divorce Madoff or he would never speak to her. The author handles her anger against her husband by smashing his iPhone. The author is very demanding in her life, but she wrote a good book!

Hard to listen to, so sad

This is a difficult book to listen to. I feel so sorry for this poor family, all members of this family. My heart goes out to Stephanie's kids the most. Yes, Bernie Madoff abused all around him. There is no doubt. All suffered because of his greed. However, a worse abuse to children is having a father abandon them through the act of suicide. This is a far graver offense though I can not judge what emotional turmoil Stephanie's husband endured. Our public, our media is cruel. It's all so tragic. I can't imagine how Stephanie has endured. I hope she and her children find peace.

Worth the read

Would you consider the audio edition of The End of Normal to be better than the print version?

There is nothing better than to hear the author read her own story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Living with greed and its effect on mental health.

probably biased but fascinating listen

The truth of the Madoff story will not be known for decades. Stephanie Madoff Mack tells a personal and very difficult tale from her own perspective and experience. I enjoyed listening to this book and feel very badly for all the people whose lives have been so very damaged by the actions of Bernie Madoff.

Very moving & revealing story

I loved the honestly in this book. This is a very touching story of love & loss. Highly recommend.

Crisis of Identity

Stephanie - a thoughtful and vulnerable glimps into your life. Interestingly I am reading this in December and can’t even imagine the sense of loss you feel each holiday - in those idle moments alone. The Madoff story leaves so many questions unanswered, but one thing for sure is that there was an absolute crisis of identity with Bernie and thus his entire family and work confidants shrouded in the false belief that jeopardizing family is to “protect family”. I’m reminded of how each of us sometimes - often times - fall for the artificial-ness of assigning our identity to our vocational success when all the while our true identity has nothing to do with those outward symbols. I keep wanting to read one more chapter in your book called “the return of normal” where you live in a middle income simple neighborhood far far away from the easy coast. Where you enjoy pizza nights with your family, long walks and where your biggest worry is your cell phone bill. That’s my prayer for you. Thanks for being bold for your family and for Mark. He would be proud.

Love her story

Love her story, I must admit there were numerous times she was much more gracious than I could have been.

Honest heartbreaking story

I finished listening to the book yesterday and had to give myself a day to ponder everything I was feeling. I too binged the book, I do not do that often. I appreciated Stephanie’s honestly, though at times she comes across as self centered and immature. I recognize how young she was at that time. She was young to be a step mother, which was evident with her lack of understanding of Marks devotion to his children from his first marriage, and his conflict trying to balance a new life, a new wife, and a new family, while still longing for his older children he missed every single day. She was young to be coping with a husband experiencing an acute mental health crisis. She let him and the reader know how sick she was of everything they were going through and what it was doing to her, and their life. Often. I understand she was telling her story, from her perspective, but it was hard as the listener at times knowing the pain Mark was in. The night he killed himself, when she turned off her phone because she was angry he told her about the Trustee wanting Audrey’s $11K gift from Bernie, it seemed like an extreme overreaction for such a small sum of money. Agreed she was on vacation and the news disturbed her happy time, but she was an adult, Mark was her best friend and confidant, home with their son coping with real life, or trying to. With the losses so many had from Bernie Madoff, at that time she still had multiple homes and a net worth higher than most, even after the Trustees clawed back all of the financial gifts Bernie had given them, she was far from poor. On one hand she would tell us how they shared everything, back and forth every day, at one point writing that they would gossip, joke, fight, etc. on text all day. Though this day when he was so upset and she was out of town he was supposed to know he should not mention it.

I felt empathy for her that she has to live with the “what if” she had handled that conversation differently for the rest of her life. I give her credit for her honesty, coming across as having a hair trigger temper, entitled, and too often criticizing the attempts of others to offer understanding after Marks death. She wasn’t always likable, but she was real.
She definitely did not understand Marks brother Andy’s grief. When she mentioned how he would visit and just sit there quietly. That made me cry. He did not get to live and repair his relationship with his brother, he was trying with his mother. Heartbreaking and sad.

My first husband died of AIDS in 1989 when my children were 6 and 8. I was 34. We were divorced but had remained extremely close, our little boys and I took care of him in our home and when he could no longer care for himself and his family would not even visit. After his death I handled everything. So much of what she wrote about, the stigma of how he died, wrestling with what to say to the children, fiercely protecting them, feeling like people were talking about her and her family, I could relate.

The only annoying part of the narration was the Author mimicking the voice of her mother in law Ruth Madoff. I understand she hates her, blames her. I feel sorry for Ruth too, she should not have stood by Bernie and she has to live with that. She lost everything.

Everything is disturbing about this book...

...the story, the authors point of view and behavior,(the previous reviews :) -- and yet, I still listened to the entire book and found it interesting.

Worth it to understand disconnection in suffering

A very intimate insight into the author's emotional fallout as a close victim of one the most incredible stories of deception of our modern times.
The story is told in a fiction-novel-like beautiful prose by Bernie Madoff's daughter-in-law, Stephanie.
What was most striking about listening to Stephanie's account is how she describes those in her inner circle whom she approves off, and those on the outside. Anybody whom is not part of her circle of trust is described as a two-dimensional character as if devoid of feelings and humanity. From that point of view, Stephanie is unable to empathize and/or understand's other's suffering, including the thousands of victims that were affected by her Father-in-law's actions. I felt that in the end, she could not even connect with her husband's suffering beyond the point of how she was affected by it.
I feel this book is worth the read because it is a lesson on humanity and how our suffering increases when we are unable to connect with the suffering of others.