You're right - what I've heard of her life doesn't square with her writings. Her books are anything but "literature" IMO and a good fiction writer could easily make them shorter by half.
I do admire her philosophy, though. Her personal life doesn't interest me much, and I don't doubt it was a mess of contradictions.
I read an interview recently where Nathaniel Branden says there was confusion among objectivists about sexuality. He is very candid about her and her life.
http://www.nathanielbranden.net/ess/int02.html I read an interview recently where Nathaniel Branden says there was confusion among objectivists about sexuality.The confusion arises from the fact that rational selfishness provides no limits or guidance to personal behavior. It says do anything you want to whomever you want as long as you think you will get away with it. As Paul said, even the heathens have a conscience. That is God speaking with us and telling us what is wrong. The principle of rational selfishness tells folks that things are OK that are not. On some level they know that. So they are confused. One look at a picture of Ayn Rand and it's obvious that she was a deeply unhappy person.