This is a valuable book which I hope you will never read. If you are interested in Ayn Rand's ideas, read and try to understand her works, and those of serious Objectivist scholars. Ayn Rand wanted to be known by her works and ideas. And I believe the closest one can ever come, on a personal level, to Ayn Rand, is through reading her novels. If you want to know "what was she like?", read her novels. Unfortunately, two grifters named Branden who for a time managed to deceive Ayn Rand wrote extremely negative and innacurate biographies about her that poisoned many people's understanding of Rand.

My primary suggestion is to ignore the Brandens and their allies, and understand that Ayn Rand as a person WAS the Ayn Rand who wrote Atlas Shrugged. That her private mistakes were personal, morally innocent, and that she attempted to deal with them in an honest and rational way. Do not be tempted by curiousity, as I was in my youth, to read the Brandens' accounts. If you haven't been poisoned by the Brandens, then I don't recommend reading Valliant's book. I don't believe Ayn Rand would have wanted people delving into a miserable episode of her life, which she considered extremely personal and private, simply out of curiosity.

On the other hand, if the Brandens' poison has sickened your spirit, and led you to make excuses for Ayn Rand against their accusations, or in other words, seriously upset you, then please do read Valliant's book. Valliant's book provides a catharsis, based on facts and reason. Ayn Rand's copious notes are the most valuable material, and Valliant sets the stage and weaves the relevant factual context surrounding them as they progress. In the end, N. Branden emerges as a revolting manipulator and rationalizer, and as the archetype of the rationalistic, angry, repressed, impostor that one occasionally comes across in the movement.

Thanks to Mr. Valliant for making this antidote available. But I don't recommend the book, in general. I don't think it would make sense or be valuable to someone not familiar with the Branden's lies and distortions. And I don't suggest that Ayn Rand's admirers become familiar with them - the last thing Ayn Rand, and probably Mr. Valliant would want, would be for a student of Objectivism to be led to be exposed to and explore the Brandens' books/allegations via Valliant's defense of Ayn Rand.

Controversial philosopher and successful novelist Ayn Rand was the subject of posthumous biographies by Nathaniel Branden and Barbara Branden. These biographies gave misleading portrayals of Rand's life and character. Now in James Valliant's The Passion Of Ayn Rand's Critics: The Case Against The Brandens, a long awaited corrective is applied as readers are provided for the first time with Rand's own never-before-seen journal entries on the Brandens, as well as the first in-depth analysis of the Brandens' own works which reveal their profoundly inaccurate and simply unjust depiction of their former mentor. A welcome and highly recommended read (especially for those with an interest in the life, work, and thought of Ayn Rand), The Passion Of Ayn Rand's Critics debunks the myths promulgated by the Brandens and makes an informed and informative contribution to a truer understanding of the value and controversies of Ayn Rand's contributions philosophical legacy.