The Ayn Rand Letter, Volumes I-IV, 1971-1976

389 pp. Begun as her health deteriorated, Rand seeks to demonstrate in these intriguing letters how philosophy determines even minute seeming events--and how the apparently most unphilosophical matters soon reveal an underlying philosophy after a hard look. Insightful, entertaining, she proceeds as the philosopher on the mountain seeing lush valleys beyond, who leads us to understand the ideological mechanics of the decadent world about her. Some essays, such as her classic "review of a review" of John Rawls 'Theory of Justice' (where she outlined how incestuous academic cottage industries got started and soon acquired a life of there own) actually demonstrate her method by appearing rather nutty too many at the time--but sardonically prescient today. This is a very good education on how to see and seek the deeper truth of events critical to real intellectual analysis, whether you like Rand or not.