Jeff Riggenbach

Though an examination of its history lends credence to C. S. Lewis's view that the concept "popular fiction" points more to a distinction among types of readers than among types of stories, it might still be argued both that Ayn Rand's own fiction shares many of the characteristics associated with "popular fiction" and that she has exercised a substantial influence on a surprisingly diverse group of American writers of "popular fiction," ranging from former acolytes like Kay Nolte Smith and Erika Holzer to Gene Roddenberry, Ira Levin, Terry Goodkind, and other contemporary purveyors of science fiction and crime fiction

Jeff Riggenbach maintains that Torres and Kamhi's What Art Is adds to our understanding of Rand's key aesthetic concepts and is particularly valuable for the writings by other thinkers that it brings to bear on Rand's ideas. It is, however, remiss in failing to include any discussion of Stephen C. Pepper and in failing to discern the true importance of Susanne Ê. Langer's works for a fuller understanding of Rand's aesthetics. It errs also in its discussion of music, photography, and cinema. Though unnecessarily marred by flawed copyediting, it is an important work