Stone was going to get all the top architects of the world to contribute to his grand remake of The Fountainhead. And, as he told me about it, I recognized why it fascinated him then, and continued to enthrall him years later. He was going to be Howard Roark; the movie character was going to reflect his vision of public service. "I was going to build a city for the public good," he said. "That was the idea of the movie." His Howard Roark would have been unselfish. "He has to build. That's the character. He sees the selfishness of all these other architects making fortunes, and there's a lot of them. But because he knows how to build an apartment well, he can do it at a cost saving of fifty dollars a foot" —and that's his preoccupation, because he is a builder, not a capitalist. (And part of that would have been consistent with the novel because, as I mentioned earlier, Roark did not like money.)

I actually found this book an interesting read.  He clearly does not understand Rand's philosophy and his arguments against it are against straw men. But this is confined largely to the first and the last chapter. The chapters in between are a fascinating look at the contemporary Objectivist movement.  And Weiss concedes that he actually found himself liking and respecting the people he met long the way. He acknowledges that they are no intellectual slouches. 

The fact that Weiss regards Rand as significant is important.  Many in the libertarian movement and its offshoots like the tea party movement don't often openly acknowledge the intellectual debt they owe to Ayn Rand.  But Weiss fully recognizes this debt and that Rand's philosophy is the bedrock on which the modern movement towards less government lies. 

For that, I thank him.