His father, a violent-tempered autocrat, was appalled to discover that his eldest son, far from being a puritanical boor like himself, showed every sign of developing into a charming, fun-loving youth, with advanced aesthetic tastes.

ECONOMIST: Historical biography

But unlike Defoe's noble hero, Selkirk had been cast away for good reason: He was a violent, foul-tempered guy.

FORBES: Castaway

Those efforts have proven a failure to this point, and a market that has been fairly sanguine about the potential negative implications of the fiscal cliff to this point had a violent reaction Friday morning, though the move was tempered somewhat after Boehner said he is still open to working with the White House on some form of compromise.

FORBES: Stocks In Pre-Christmas Plunge After GOP Bucks Boehner