Bookends

Interesting to note that 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of both Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and Jack Kerouac's On the Road. After Granville Hicks savaged Rand's celebration of raw capitalist ambition in the New York Times, Alan Greenspan -- yes, that Alan Greenspan, who apparently was part of Rands' inner circle -- wrote to the Times to protest that:

‘Atlas Shrugged’ is a celebration of life and happiness. Justice is unrelenting. Creative individuals and undeviating purpose and rationality achieve joy and fulfillment. Parasites who persistently avoid either purpose or reason perish as they should.

I imagine Mr. Greenspan had the likes of such parasites as Mr. Kerouac in mind when he wrote that hateful little response.

Suddenly curious about what kind of year 1957 was, I scanned the rest of the bestseller list, wondering whether there might be any titles of obvious environmental interest. Indeed, there was one -- a great one at that (at least, it made a great impression on me, reading it as a kid in the midst of the Cold War): Nevil Shute's On the Beach, which imagined a world all but completely done in by nuclear war, landed at number 8 that year, two spots ahead of Atlas Shrugged. On the Road didn't crack the Top Ten, but of course Kerouac has sold more than his share of books in the intervening decades, not to mention jeans, cigarettes, cars, and flannel shirts. It would be interesting, in fact, to know who has sold more copies, all told: Kerouac or Rand?

For the moment, however, it's Mr. Greenspan who has seized the brass ring. His memoir, The Age of Turbulence, which has just been published, currently tops Amazon's list of top sellers.