Atlas Shrugged

This book is really big and will make you look smart to college freshmen, so be sure to read it in a well-populated coffeeshop. The fact that it's an often jaw-droppingly boring account of corporate corruption and steel magnates matters little if your favorite crush happens to be a college freshmen inhabiting the same coffeeshop you've chosen for your ostentatious perusal.

But seriously,Atlas Shrugged is an informative read, particularly for those researching the narcissism and self-centeredness permeating postmodern society. Ayn Rand's philosophy, egoism, was exactly what it sounds like: concerned with self-aggrandisement and individual liberty above all else.

Rand, a Russian immigrant to the United States, wanted to call her thought system "existentialism," but unfortunately that one was taken (by intellects far superior and more creative than hers). So she called it "objectivism" or "egoism," though there was nothing really objective about any of it, and even the termegoism makes it sound more noble than it actually was.

If you want to be able to answer the question "Who is John Galt?", by all means read this book. If you want to go on a self-indulgent date with a pretentious person, read this book in public. If, however, you want all of Rand's philosophy in a fraction of the page count, readAnthem—it's better written, more entertaining, and mercifully short.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.