We've Got "Special" People Here Now (Retarded)

"Adam LeBor’s excellent book, written with perfect restraint, explores how it came to pass that a staggering $65 billion imploded in December 2008 when Madoff admitted that his investment business was 'one big lie'.

As the title suggests, the book is not a biography of Madoff but a study of his 'cult'. LeBor posits that it helps to think of Madoff as a godlike figure whose sociopathic ability to deceive was outweighed only by the vanity of his victims.

Although he seems confounded by the depth of Madoff’s cruelty, LeBor has limited sympathy for the investors who were so keen to join the secretive, exclusive fund that promised returns of 10 to 12 per cent every year.

LeBor’s book neatly chronicles the many shades of complicity. It is stuffed with finely detailed tales of hubris and hypocrisy. Madoff’s acolytes, hoping to avoid more lawsuits, fall over themselves to declare how much money they too have lost.

On the surface, this might seem repetitive, but each story of disintegrated paper wealth brings its own ego to light. Not everyone had the privilege of being defrauded by Madoff."

-- Laura Slattery, from her review of The Believers: How America Fell for Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion Investment Scam, which is an excellent title - just like "cult" - or even The Irish Times.