The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Copyright 1943
Pages 720

Synopsis=  The Fountainhead takes place in New York City during the 1920s and 30s. It depicts the struggles of innovative architect Howard Roark and his unswerving devotion to his own thinking and judgment. His autonomous thinking allows him to create and successfully fight for revolutionary designs.  Along the way many people use their influence in one way or another to either make or break Roark while Roark's only devotion is to himself and his own work.

At the beginning of the book we meet Howard Roark as he is being kicked out of school for refusing to do the old outdated work that is expected of it's graduates.  We also meet his nemesis Peter Keating who is a classmate of Roark and the son of Roark's landlord.  Peter is a suck-up who can smile at a persons face while stabbing them in the back, and all he cares about is success, fame, appearances and money, all of which he acquires but not through his own ability.  Eventually Roark gets what he wants- the ability to build the way he wants to, and the girl too.  Many people learn some hard lessons along the way.

Others in this work=
Elsworth Toohey=  The anti-Roark.  He is always trying to control others through manipulation, and this is his only talent.
Dominique Francon= The girl.  She is supposedly the perfect girl for Roark although she spends a lot of the book trying to destroy him because of her own views on life.  She first marries Peter Keating, and then Gail Wynand.
Gail Wynand=  Is the middle point between Roark and Wynand.  He is the owner of The Banner, a newspaper with high circulation and the same paper that both Dominique and Toohey work for (Dominique is ultimately fired for her support of Roark).  Wynand grew up like Roark, but along the way he let the world shape and corrupt him.  Only toward the end does Wynand try to turn his life around but he is not strong enough and gives in.  He is the tragic figure of the novel.

One does not have to subscribe to objectivism in order to get something out of this book.  For those who are not philosophically minded this also makes a strange love story.  The Fountainhead reads at a quick pace despite it's size and the character development is good.

Ken Kesey was born Kenneth Elton Kesey on September 17, 1935 in La Junta, Colorado and died on Novemer 10, 2001 in Pleasant Hill, Oregon at the age of 66.  While Kesey was a child his parents moved from Colorado to Oregon State.  In high school and college Kesey was a star athlete in wrestling.  He studied at the University of Oregon and upon graduation married his high school sweetheart.  Kesey had 4 children, 3 with his wife Faye and 1 with Merry Prankster Carolyn Adams.

In 1958 Kesey attended a creative writing program at Stanford.  This is when he would begin writing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  Kesey's inspiration for this novel came when he agreed to participate in and experiment at the Menlo Park veteran's hospital, a study on the effects of psychoactive drugs.  Kesey would spend time talking to some of the patients of the hospital, but his take on their situation was much different than those of other people.  He did not believe that the patients were insane at all.

After the success of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kesey spent time as the *non-leader* of the Merry Pranksters.  The antics of the Merry Pranksters has been widely documented as well as being the subject of Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.  During this time he published Sometimes a Great Notion.  During his time with the Merry Pranksters he had gotten into some legal trouble and at one point tried to fake his own death.

Ken Kesey's works include=

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Viking, 1962

Sometimes a Great Notion, Viking, 1964.

Kesey's Garage Sale, Viking, 1973.

Kesey, Northwest Review of Books, 1977 (Edited by Michael Strelow).

The Day After Superman Died, Lord John Press, 1980.

Demon Box, Viking, 1986.

The Further Inquiry, Viking, 1990.

Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear, Viking 1990.

The Sea Lion, Viking, 1991.

Sailor Song, Viking, 1992.

Last Round Up, (with Ken Babbs), Viking, 1994.