Thanks, Kelly, but Kenny IS so very cool that one must never dismiss his well-considered suggestions out of hand.

Perhaps Jim would like to choose his own pursuits.

Just a suggestion.

Kelly

He can turn his attention to Mr Tuccille. Tuccile is a passionate critic of Ayn Rand who needs answering as much as, probably more than, the Brandens.

"Tuccille on the other hand, along with Jeff Walker are the Ellsworth Tooheys of the libertarian movement."

I've often thought of Objectivist luminaries as Ayn Rand characters. Peter Schwartz for example -- he's exactly how I imagine Cuffy Meigs. ;^)

Cheers, Peter Cresswell

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I agree with Kenny. You can usually wade through the Branden biographies and still come out an Objectivist. Tuccille on the other hand, along with Jeff Walker are the Ellsworth Tooheys of the libertarian movement.

Jim

My perception of Rand was influenced negatively by his "It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand". It was given to me by a libertarian friend in the late 1980s. A lot of libertarians refer to it when referring to Rand a person. "It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand" could have had a greater impact than the Brandens' books.

The new book could have an even greater impact if it is marketed aggressively - especially as the Atlas Shrugged movie script is nearly finished.

As far as I know, James doesn't think Tuccille is that important. I posted his email to me because I thought it was an interesting addition to the review.

I too hope that James reaches a larger market for his book and for his ideas, preferrably on the air waves.

I hope that this is not a sign that Jim is no longer posting here. Libertarians are not, however, typically biased against Rand. The big problem is that that the Brandens' smears have been repeated ad nauseam by her detractors are now regarded as true. I have urged Jim to promote his book to libertarian audiences to put the record straight.

Generally Rand critics who post on this site are cowards who run when their motives are exposed and/or confronted with the facts. Neil Parille's recent post is a classic example.

When I emailed James Valliant to send him a link to this review he responded with the following...(posted with his permission)

"Jerome Tuccille is a great example of how the Brandens' lies will grow into even worse lies about Rand, given the right nurturing. Nathaniel Branden writes in his memoir that among Objectivism's "implicit premises" was Rand's own guru status -- although, he also insists, "it is best not to say [this] openly." ('Judgment Day,' p.255-256) Tuccille writes in 'Alan Shrugged' (his biography of Greenspan) that everyone around Rand was REQUIRED to "believe and state openly" such "premises." (p.73-74) -- citing Branden AS HIS SOURCE! Tuccille also continues the great tradition of Murray Rothbard's "fictionalized" history of Objectivism -- and Rothbard is another one of his major "sources." Yet, for example, Rothbard knew that no one had ever been "excommunicated" from Rand's circle for not sharing Rand's musical tastes, but he would write this as fact (among other nonsense about Rand) in what Rothbard knew were fabricated histories. Obviously, Tuccille was never "tight" with Rand -- that's just wrong, too. Tuccille's typical libertarian biases against Rand result in his typical libertarian errors -- but Tuccille is a particularly bad historian and scholar on these matters."

Just another reason I'm glad for PARC.

Tuccille's first book on Rand, "It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand" was a mixture of fact and fiction. It was reported that Tuccille admitted that his book was "factional". The new book is merely an update of the IUBWAR and it should be treated with scepticism.