Charles Murray on Rand

A late, but well-aimed, review by Charles Murray on two recent Ayn Rand biographies.  Here is the final paragraph:

Ayn Rand never dwelt on her Russian childhood, preferring to think of herself as wholly American. Rightly so. The huge truths she apprehended and expressed were as American as apple pie. I suppose hardcore Objectivists will consider what I’m about to say heresy, but hardcore Objectivists are not competent to judge. The novels are what make Ayn Rand important. Better than any other American novelist, she captured the magic of what life in America is supposed to be. The utopia of her novels is not a utopia of greed. It is not a utopia of Nietzschean supermen. It is a utopia of human beings living together in Jeffersonian freedom.

I read Heller’s book and found it worth the time despite already knowing many of the stories.  It is better on Rand’s personal life than on her ideas – so I almost wished I had chosen to read Burns’ instead (since I’m not sure I need to read two biographies of Rand in the same year having already read and watched a lot of/about Rand over the years).