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‘Books, I Think, Are Dead’: Joe Queenan Talks About ‘One for the Books’
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Atlas Shrugged |
The Fountainhead |
Q. You say that “a genuinely terrible book is a sheer delight.” What’s the
worst book you’ve ever read? (Let’s exclude the most predictably bad,
like those you cite written by O. J. Simpson and Geraldo Rivera.) A. “Atlas Shrugged” is moronic beyond belief, though it just narrowly edges out “The Fountainhead.” Rand is a fascist and a creep, either of which could be forgiven. But she also cannot write. As Oscar Wilde once said, the only truly unforgivable crime is lack of sophistication. I think Wilde said that. He said everything else.
