Judgment Day: My Years with Ayn Rand

Branden's long, tedious account of his 18-year relationship with Ayn Rand is weighted with self-dramatization. The domineering author of The Fountainhead was 25 years his senior when they met in 1950; both were married yet carried on an affair. Branden writes that in 1968, when Rand discovered he was having an affair with Patrecia Gullison, an actress-model who became his second wife, Rand violently severed their relationship and excommunicated him from the inner circle of the Objectivist movement, of which Branden had been a chief disciple. After Patrecia drowned in 1977, Branden's third wife, Devers, formed a friendship with Rand, who still refused to speak to Branden. As he set tles scores with colleagues here and tests his theory of the psychology of romantic love, he also tests the reader's patience; nevertheless, Rand devotees will likely relish the steamy details of her personal life. 

"..the book provides valuable insights into the life of a great thinker and her followers, warns of the dangers of cultism, points out the positive aspects and hazards of Rand's philosophy, and provides an introduction to Mr. Branden's own significant work on the psychology of self-esteem. Not bad for a story that is often as gripping as, well, an Ayn Rand novel."

- Judge Alex Kozinski, Wall Street Journal

"An intensely personal story of the making of a powerful intellectual movement that helped shape the policy changes now rocking the world. the story will appall some, anguish others, and intrigue and excite everyone."

- Martin Anderson, The Hoover Institute

"Branden faced up to the issues with really admirable courage and frankness....A quite extraordinary book."

- Colin Wilson, Author of The Outsider