Ayn Rand Is Dead

So it’s 100th anniversary of the crazy old meth junkie’s birth. She’s still dead. Unfortunately, her books live on. If you want some great thoughts on her philosophy, try some these fine links:
Happy Rand Day
Join the Party
Ayn Rand Centenary

They’re having a Rand festival over at Reason:
Rand Redux
Rand-o-Rama
Ayn Rand at 100

Have no earthly idea who Ayn Rand is? Go here.

I’ll just say that Ayn Rand is good at inducing thought. However, I’m in the large group that thinks she can’t write worth a damn. If I never have to sit through a thinly fictionalized fifty page screed about the primacy of the individual or some such crap ever again, I won’t be upset. I can’t tell you about Atlas Shrugged because I quit after The Fountainhead. If you must read her fiction, read Anthem. It has a huge advantage over the other two in that it’s much, much shorter. I close with this thought from Officer Barbrady:

“Yes, at first I was happy to be learning how to read. It seemed exciting and magical, but then I read this: Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. I read every last word of this garbage, and because of this piece of shit, I am never reading again.”