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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A MUST-READ FOR CONFUSED AYN RAND ADMIRERS, 19 May 2002
When I first read the Fountainhead, it affected my life like a bombshell. I recognized myself in the character of Peter Keating, and shuddered. I had been selling myself for money, prestige, for the admiration of other people. I re-read the book four times over a period of 9 months - and then found the courage to quit my job. The next year, I ambitiously worked to become Howard Roark, and grew increasingly despondent in my inability to achieve a state of unemotional living, which is what he implied. I began to realize that there were shortcomings in Ayn philosophy of the perfect man, but given the powerful arguments in her books (including Atlas Shrugged), I struggled to identify the errors.The Passion of Ayn Rand is a case study in an attempt to live life according to Objectivism, as Ayn tried. Not only did Ayn fail to live up to many of her own philosophies, but she failed utterly to trully live life to its fullest. Bitter, isolated and without children, her life path is not one that I would like to follow. Lest the strong Ayn Rand believer reading this review is tempted to dismiss these observations, it should be pointed out that Barbara Branden was an admirer of Ayn Rand, and therefore did not unduly skew facts to Ayn's disfavor. In summary, this book makes clear that Ayn did not take her own philosophy "to not fake reality in any manner" to heart. Ayn married a man who in no way resembled any of her versions of the ideal man - yet to her death prominently announced to the world that he was her greatest hero. Ayn is a great writer, and her theory that man should aspire to their best is excellent. But her theory of Objectivism is not a way to live life, as the failure of her life clearly shows.
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![The Passion Of Ayn Rand [1999] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ewbU6kwuL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
