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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BEST BOOK ON BERNIE SO FAR, August 19, 2009
I am totally fascinated by the Madoff case; it's a Wall Street melt-down and a Shakespearean tragedy at the same time. I've now read the two prestige books on the case - "Too Good to Be True" by Erin Arvedlund and "Betrayal: The Life and Lies of Bernie Madoff" by Andrew Kirtzman.
From a reader's standpoint, the books couldn't be more different. Arvedlund's prose is impossibly dry, and she doesn't have the skills or experience to know how to create a narrative. Instead, the facts in her book are laid down like a college term paper, and it's left to the reader to come up with the drive and curiosity to keep going. There are certainly some good points and interesting facts in her book that make it worth plodding through - you get a load of details about Madoff's Wall Street career - but it's a slow, often boring read. Kirtzman is an experienced author, and clearly grasped the epic nature of this story. Even though we all know how it ends, his book keeps you hooked with its stories about Madoff, his family and the people who trusted them. As he develops his characters and tells the stories of their experiences with Madoff and their growing trust in him, you can feel the disaster looming, even as you keep hoping these people can somehow avoid their inevitable fate. When the catastrophe hits, it's a tidal wave that drowns everyone. It's an incredible story, told by a skilled writer. Kirtzman interviewed over 100 people for this book and has great behind-the-scenes stories about the mounting crisis inside the Lipstick Building as the insanity mounts, and the panic inside the feeder funds as their investors start asking questions the executives are hopelessly unable to answer. While Arvedlund's book is admirable, Kirtzman's book is filled with far more gripping details and makes for a great read.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well written, insightful, but unlikely to be the final word, September 21, 2009
With Bernie Madoff convicted and behind bars the deluge of books on him and his crimes can be unleashed. But considering the investigations into what became of the money lost and his co-conspirators any initial books are little more than a second draft of history, initial news coverage being the typical first draft of history. While these initial books may provide a considerable wealth of information on Madoff himself and what he did they will never be the complete story nor the final word on the subject. Witness the book Disconnected: Deceit and Betrayal at WorldCom, a book so rushed to publication it was out before WorldCom's Bernard Ebbers was even convicted. "Disconnected" shows the perils of rushing a book to publication to capitalize on a timely topic; in the rush to get it to market it's hardly a complete or nuanced story. "Betrayal" is certainly far better written than "Disconnected" and sticks to presenting facts in a more objective manner, especially when compared to the gossipy tabloid style of Madoff with the Money, which also covers Madoff. Kirtzman's background as a journalist shows through especially in his style of writing, making "Betrayal" a satisfying read like any good novel. Equally satisfying are the details of the case Kirtzman lays out against Madoff, a tale of intimidation wrapped in the veneer of respectability. While some would challenge Madoff, including the SEC, most were either intimidated or simply in awe of Madoff and the empire he had created. One of the more chilling tales is how young inexperienced SEC investigators were sent to look into Madoff's business only to be awestruck upon arriving at his offices. Clearly impressed they asked employees if there were any job openings. Such was the power of Madoff.
"Betrayal" gives you a true sense of how Bernie Madoff was able to create his empire based on trust and respectability, how it came to get out of control, and how he was able to keep investigators at bay. Compared to the other books out there on Madoff like the previously mentioned "Madoff with the Money" Too Good to Be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff, and Madoff's Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie, and Me, "Betrayal" is a well written book from someone who's done their homework. While "Betrayal" certainly helps shape our knowledge of Madoff and his Ponzi scheme it's unlikely to be the last word on the subject.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good complement to Arvedlund, September 2, 2009
Andrew Kirtzman's book should be read WITH Erin Arvedlund's. It includes a more objective account of how she followed up Ocrant's hint in an obscure journal for her 2001 Barron's article.
It is far more complete about Harry Markopolos, though any reader can discount for the cynicism he expresses about Markopolos (really? is it unreasonable to fear for one's life when exposing that extensive an international fraud? why shouldn't he have thought of puts on Madoff related stocks when no one would listen to him? I know lots of over focussed quants and I've always thought them the salt of the earth). Arvedlund left the whole relationship between Markopolos, his boss Casey at Rampart, and the elegant cluelessness of the Villehuchet circle of phonies and pretentious nobility and royalty, just half or a quarter told, and here's a complete preliminary map. Kirtzman is entirely too sympathetic to Villehuchet. Vanity and "high" birth aren't an excuse for folly and fraud. Kirtzman has to pretend he thinks there was an innocence to Walter Noel, Carl Shapiro, Jaffe and others that I don't believe in either. That will be gone into as research and indictments continue. He certainly doesn't spare Ezra Merkin.
--The whole European side of this scandal is being hushed up and hidden as closely as Sonja Kohn's whereabouts, and neither Arvedlund nor Kirtzman gives more than a start on it, but K is much more insightful.
--Both Arvedlund and Kirtzman are full of names for prosecutors to consider as well as the already indicted.
--Kirtzman's book is far more suggestive about people. He, not Arvedlund, shows that probably the Madoff family were financial cheats on every scale they could make, and so were Ruth's family the Alperns, from the beginning in Bernie's boyhood. The only real weakness is that though he postulates that Bernie was already inventing money in the 60's, there's no data--YET--on Madoff Securities 1960-1985, and so two decades and more have to be skipped over. That will be remedied as time goes on.
The description of the ancient 1988 IBM AS 400 and the terminals from a 1970's spy film that were still cranking away on the 17th floor when Madoff went under is priceless. The book is very professionally written, if hastily proofread ("principals" where moral "principles" is meant, "discrete" (an old word for "completely separate" twice for "discreet", "entrusted Madoff with billions" i/0 "Madoff with billions").
If you take Kirtzman and Arvedlund together you have a splendid, comprehensive background map to help you follow coming revelations and indictments. Kirtzman is much more detailed and interesting about people, Arvedlund better about finance. Of course, since all the money was fake, the people side tends to take the story away.
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