I&#x27;ve not yet read &#x27;Atlas Shrugged&#x27; or &#x27;The Fountainhead&#x27;, and feel I shouldn&#x27;t comment until I do.  However, my anecdotal experience is that there is an association between people who have read Rand and people who are isolationist, individualist, and, uh, unpleasant. I have wondered about the mindset, about whether it&#x27;s the book that develops the mindset, or the mindset that finds the book, and about whether books might help develop a different mindset.  As a person who devoured the Lord of the Rings trilogy as a teenager, I always liked this quote:<p>&quot;There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old&#x27;s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.&quot;  [1]<p>I am hopeful for any social discussion of character.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikiquote.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;John_Rogers" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikiquote.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;John_Rogers</a>