Charles Murry, writing in the Claremont Review of Books, reviews two books on the (greatly misunderstood) icon of modern libertarianism, Ayn Rand. Well worth the read.
In college I read The Fountainhead, as any good architecture student does, but didn't read Atlas Shrugged until I was in my early 30's. I think waiting to read the latter after a few years in the real world is a good thing. The message is very complex, and often uses unrealistic scenarios (Gault's Gulch) to make a real point. Atlas Shrugged is like a fine wine; it's subtleties are lost on those who do not know what they are consuming. Without the wisdom of experience, it is a work easy to mis-understand and confuse, and is often - I think incorrectly - used to bolster unrealistic expectations (The Libertarian Party) or paranoia (isolationists/conspiracy theorists), or both (Ron Paul).
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