You have to read this book with the understanding that Ayn Rand never meant for these lectures to be published in print form. They were recorded, transcribed and edited. Even knowning that, she still comes across as extremely full of herself. She is the best fiction writer and she critics some of the masters. She does give good advise on writing and on recognizing good writing. I can now explain why some of the books I read are entertaining but I just knew they weren’t “good” books. In the fiction book I’m reading now I can point out numerous ways that the author could have made it a better book, thanks to what I’ve learned from Ayn Rand.
So, if you want to learn more about writing, this is a great book for you. If you hate analyzing what you read and have no intentions of ever writing anything, then you better leave this one on the shelf.
Note that I listened to the audio version of this book from Audible.com.