Coming at you rapidly: the Madoff books

Heaven forbid that, now that he's been sentenced and sent to jail, public interest in disgraced financier Bernard Madoff cools down too much. So to prevent the public's attention from drifting too far, publishers are rushing three Madoff books to print this summer. (All had originally been scheduled for release in the fall.)

According to the Wall Street Journal, the release date of Erin Arvedlund's "Too Good to Be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff" has been pushed up to Aug. 11 from Sept. 8, while Andrew Kirtzman's "Betrayal: The Life and Lies of Bernie Madoff,"originally scheduled for release in October, will also be published Aug. 11. One day later, on Aug. 12, a third title, Jerry Oppenheimer's "Madoff With the Money," originally scheduled for Sept. 15, will be released.

Only one publisher is playing it cool. A book about Madoff by award-winning business journalist Richard Behar, will not be published till next year. A spokeswoman for Behar's publisher, Random House, told the Journal that the publisher is confident that Behar's contacts "will result in a standout title."

In the horse race for readers, however, each book may have its unique attractions. For those who follow business news, Erin Arvedlund may have an advantage in that she is the Barron's reporter who was one of the first to publicly question Madoff's record. Jerry Oppenheimer, on the other hand, is best known as an unofficial biographer, and hints about what will be covered in his book (rumors of Madoff's infidelity to his wife and of his ties to the mob) have already appeared on the New York Post's Page Six.