A potentially fascinating book, spoiled by some bad editorial choices. First of all, this is really the selected letters of Ayn Rand, and some of the selections are maddening-the book contains over half a dozen letters to Leonebel Jacobs, a fairly obscure portrait artist Rand knew back in the 1940s, but only a single letter apiece to Nathaniel and Barbara Branden, two of the most central figures in her life.

There are some other questionable omissions as well. A section devoted to Rand's correspondence with philosopher John Hospers contains only Rand's half of the exchange, even though Hospers was apparently willing to allow his own letters to Rand to be published, and even though he expressed concern that "[Rand's] summary of what I said sometimes did not reproduce what I really did say." I for one would like to have seen both sides of the dialogue; it would have been a rare opportunity to observe Rand actually debating her ideas. If the problem was lack of space, I think the smart move would have been to make room for Hospers' letters by cutting out some of Rand's less essential correspondence, like her note thanking Leonebel Jacobs for "the wonderful cheese" he sent her in 1948.

Oh well. Maybe sometime in the future, after the current controllers of her estate have gone on to that great Dead Letter Office in the sky, a more complete version of Rand's correspondence will become available. Until then, the anemic "Letters of Ayn Rand" will have to do.

As one who knew Ayn Rand quite well at the end of her life, I was still amazed by this book: the unique combination of passionate valuing and ruthless logic that characterized her later years shone throughout her life--but with fascinating variations in form. Through these letters, you follow her life from age 21, when she writes back home to Russia, to Leo (the model for the hero of her first novel), to her long and brilliant philosophic correspondence with Prof. John Hospers after the publication of _Atlas Shrugged_. Also letters to H. L. Mencken, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mickey Spillaine, Barry Goldwater, Cecil B. DeMille, Bennett Cerf, Walt Disney, Alexander Kerensky, Ginger Rogers, Robert Stack, Isabel Paterson, as well as her responses to ordinary fan-letters. An intimate chronicle of the soul from which sprang Howard Roark, Francisco d'Anconia, John Galt and her other unprecedented heroes. Harry Binswanger (hb@interport.net)

Ayn Rand's personal life has been a mystery to her fans, excepting some hatchet-job memoirs. Finally, we get the REAL Ayn Rand, as she was to her friends, family, colleagues and fans. This book shows how Rand was passionate in all the areas of her life from her husband, to her publishers, to philosophical discussions with the like of John Hospers. **This book really gives one the feeling that one knows Ayn Rand privately, which is the best aim a book of private correspondence can serve.

The book description Amazon provides is accurate. Do not expect much philosophy, controversy, or excitement from this book. It contains two papers written by Miss Rand before she left Russia, most likely for school assignments. It will probably only be of interest to hard-core Rand fanatics such as myself. Buy it if you are a collector of Ayn Rand memorabilia, or want to support the Ayn Rand Institute.

You are probably reading this to get some information on the content of this book. The gem of the book is Ayn Rand's essay, Hollywood: American City of Movies. This is a tribute to a city built on the art form of movies. Most of the actors she pays tribute to are from the silent movie era, like Charlie Chaplin. This essay is excellent. A section of the book is entitled Ayn Rand's Movie Diary. Ayn Rand's movie reviews are all from the 1920's and consist of giving only a 1-5 point rating with no analysis. A very limited amount of movies looked at. Some of the pages are taken up by the Russian translation of Ayn Rands writing. This book should not be your first, or even your second, Ayn Rand book.