"The Club No One Wanted To Join" Book Review & Giveaway! (The Madoff Victim's Stories) CLOSED

Madoff Victims In Their Own Words

It could have been you...it could have been me. Anyone could have been taken advantage of this way!

When I was first asked to review this book, I was like, "Sure! I'll check your book out!" I wasn't prepared for the emotional rollercoaster that I was about to hop on...this is one of those books that are difficult to put down, but so hard to keep reading, because they're so heartbreaking! It brings you into the personal lives of the people who were taken advantage of...

Me, In A Bubble

I had heard of the Madoff Victims, but I guess I was in a bubble when the whole thing happened, or maybe it was over my head...or maybe I just didn't care, like many others, because it wasn't me who Bernard Madoff took advantage of.

Now, I'm wondering what I can do for these people who thought they were investing their hard-earned money wisely. I'm wondering why the government hasn't done anything for the people who LOST EVERYTHING when Bernie Madoff ripped off with every dime of their investments, every dime of their life saving...their security...and basically, their lives.

The victims were not filthy rich investors...many were struggling, everyday people who wanted to secure their retirements...and they were left with nothing!


My Heart Broke Over and Over Again

The Club No One Wanted to Join is comprised of individual, personal stories, written by the victims themselves. Each chapter is a whole new insight into the depths of a person (or couple's) life before, during and after encountering and trusting Madoff. Each story is heartbreaking...and each one leaves me to wonder...what is WRONG with our government (The Securities and Exchange Commission)??? Why did they let this con artist come in and start up an investment firm? And then walk with $65B dollars of people's hard-earned money?

I mean, yeah, he's serving 150 years in jail now, but the victims are still broke and hopeless. It's maddening and saddening, at the same time.

One woman talks about how she and her husband scrimped and saved all of their lives to put away enough to make it through retirement and beyond...and then, after her husband passes away, she realizes that she has nothing, thanks to Madoff.  As of December 11, 2008, when the bottom dropped out, there was no more retirement...where does she turn?

Assumptions About the Victims

To make matters worse, the media called the victims rich and greedy and assumed that they did something wrong, when the honest truth was, most of them followed the advice of people that they knew before they invested...and none of them were being greedy! They all thought that they were investing their money wisely to secure their future, or at least make it comfortable.

Personal Letters to Madoff

There are even personal letters from the victims to Bernard Madoff, speaking from their hearts, in the book. They are sad, too. Heartbreaking.

My heart goes out to the Madoff victims (who also refer to themselves as the Madoff Survivors) and my prayers are with them. I hope they all find some kind of peace in their lives after having their future plans and lives pulled out from underneath them. Most of all, I hope someone comes up with a plan to help these people face the rest of their lives...

How You Can Help

In the meantime, go buy the book! The proceeds of the book, The Club No One Wanted To Join, will "help victims pursue legislative changes needed to further the rights of the small investor", according to the acknowledgments in the book.

It could have been any of us...

If you are interested in helping the victims of Madoff and anyone who invests...here are two petitions that you can sign:

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

Giveaway!

Alexandra Roth, the fabulous woman who compiled all of the essays and put the book together in a way that will touch anyone who reads it, was wonderful enough to offer a giveaway here on Mommy Rantings! So, you can read the heart-wrenching stories yourself!

I'm going to do this giveaway a little different than others...because I want to get the word out about this book. So, make sure that you are a Mommy Rantings follower and then you can:

Mandatory entry: Tell me why you want this book.

Extra entries:

1) Update your Facebook status with this giveaway. (2 entries)

2) Blog about this giveaway - tell me your blog's URL (3 entries).

3) Tweet this giveaway (you can do this once per day!) (1 entry per tweet -leave twitter name)

This giveaway will end on February 7th, 2011!



I was provided a copy of the book The Club No One Wanted To Join in order to write this review. All opinions are mine.