Atlas Shrugged

There's a guest post by Morbo entitled "Never underestimate the power of bad literature" over at The Carpetbagger that's well worth a read. It begins as follows:

Fifty years ago this week, Ayn Rand published the novel “Atlas Shrugged.” Never has such a wretched piece of work had such a powerful impact.

“Atlas Shrugged” is a terrible book — it’s turgid, didactic and poorly written with character development that comes straight out of a cardboard factory. Yet it has influenced countless venal people over the years, providing a justification for greed and theories of capitalism untainted by social responsibility. Folks like Alan Greenspan, John Fund, Clarence Thomas and John Stossel cite “Atlas Shrugged” as an influence and drool over the cult of Ayn Rand that has arisen since its publication. (Stossel, who says he was “stunned” when he read the book at age 40, was the featured guest at an event in Washington this week, celebrating the novel’s 50th anniversary.)

You'll find the rest here.