I studied psychology, I guess thats why I see dianetics as a laughable farce.

I suspect it's more because these books have a fanatical following, the kind of people who want to deliberately manipulate 'Best Of...' lists to give their beliefs more publicity.

Partly it's because people read them, decide they know all they need to know about philosophy, and stop right there. Then they get arrogant in conversations and denounce people who disagree with them. They use Ayn Rand as an excuse to justify their own lack of worth under the excuse that society doesn't understand them or that most people don't appreciate their work.

Rand also gets very preachy, especially in the end of Atlas Shrugged. It's a terrific climax, but it's not at all a balanced finale. When she condemns people who live in society to a death by train explosion, she's getting a leetle bit heavy-handed.

Rand changed my life when I read her, and I still agree with most of the tenants of Objectivism. That said, I do not like her followers and I think that her works need to be taken with at least a slight sense of perspective; otherwise, you'll start acting foolish.

I'm not judging the value of what she says; merely the fact that in no way are her books 2 out of the top 3 from the last century.

Yes, and yes.