Dishy 1957 reviews of "Atlas Shrugged"

I've written here before about Ayn Rand's book, "Atlas Shrugged". I loved it because it's camp. People don't get that. Here's a review from when the book was first published:

Robert R. Kirsch, Los Angeles Times:
It is probably the worst piece of large fiction written since Miss Rand's equally weighty "The Fountainhead." Miss Rand writes in the breathless hyperbole of soap opera. Her characters are of billboard size; her situations incredible and illogical; her story is feverishly imaginative.

Yes! And that's why it's such fun. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the woman wrote in film noire style. By the way, "The Fountainhead" is equally campy and I adored it, as well. The only writer (quoted in the article) whose review was positive was Hedda Hopper! She loved it.

Poor Atlas Shrugged

I know we're all supposed to demonize Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged, her thousand-page novel from 1957. But, see, I liked both Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, her other very popular book.

If you read this blog regularly, you know I'm wildly liberal. In fact, I'm militantly liberal, almost insanely liberal. So how can this be? How can a liberal guy like this book? Here's the answer, folks: it's a novel, a fictional story. Yes, it's sad that there are many stupid conservatives today who consider it a documentary. But see, it isn't a documentary. It's a novel.

The reason I enjoyed both books is that they're written in an over-the-top, film noir style. The writing is overly dramatic on every page. This makes it a campy joy to read.

Xmas Carol, my soon-to-be-released novel, is an anti-religious story. So do I think no religious person could enjoy it? Of course not. In fact, many of my test-readers are religious and they had no problem enjoying the book. You know why? Because it's a novel. See how that works?

Similarly, there's no reason why a liberal can't enjoy Atlas Shrugged, though I've only seen diatribes against the book on liberal blogs. I wonder if any of the writers read the book. I'll say it again: Ayn Rand was fun -- in a campy way.

Anyone else want to chime in?