The Fountainhead

By Ayn Rand

Categories: Literature & Fiction

Howard Roark is a brilliant young architect who refuses to compromise his vision, even when it costs him commissions, reputation, and friends. Dominique Francon is a beautiful, complicated woman drawn to his integrity. Ayn Rand's novel follows Roark's fight to build on his own terms against a society that wants him to conform. Rand presents her central idea through him: that individual creativity is the source of human progress.

Recommended by 8 people

• Vince Vaughn
• Travis Kalanick
• Noah Kagan
• Mark Cuban
• Larry Ellison
• Emma Watson
• Marc Andreessen: “The soul is that which can't be ruled. It must be broken. Drive a wedge in, get your fingers on it--and the man is yours. You won't need a whip--he'll bring it to you and ask to be whipped. Set him in reverse--and his own mechanism will do your work for you.”
• Shah Rukh Khan: “Fountainhead is good a difficult long read though….”