Books about Ayn Rand, Objectivism, and related topics
Books by:
Ayn Rand · Nathaniel Branden · Barbara Branden · Frank O'Connor
Leonard Peikoff · David Kelley · Chris Sciabarra · Murray Rothbard
Jerome Tuccille · Michael Shermer · Mary Gaitskill · Nancy Kress
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Fiction
The Early Ayn Rand: A Selection from Her Unpublished Fiction — Short fiction, two plays (Ideal and Think Twice), and previously unpublished excerpts from the manuscript versions of We the Living and The Fountainhead. Edited by Leonard Peikoff.
Night of January 16th — A play, in which the former mistress of a famous banker stands trial for his murder. In an amusingly postmodern twist, Night of January 16th begins with a panel of jurors being selected from the audience; they get to come up on stage and watch the rest of the trial from the jury box, voting guilty or innocent at the end of the third act. The play has two possible endings, depending on what the jury decides.
We the Living — Rand’s first novel, published in 1936, is the story of Kira Argounova, a bright young engineering student attending university in Petrograd a few years after the Soviet revolution. During an ideological purge, Kira is identified as a class traitor (her father is a former factory owner) and kicked out of school. Then her lover Leo contracts tuberculosis, and in order to secure the medical care Leo needs to stay alive, Kira agrees to an affair with a Communist Party official; Leo is saved, but the affair ends in tragedy.
By conventional literary standards, this is probably Rand’s best-
An unauthorized film version of We the Living was produced in fascist Italy during World War II. A restored print of the film, with English subtitles, was released on video in the early 1990s, and it’s actually quite good—much better than the movie version of The Fountainhead.
Anthem — A novella about a dystopian future society in which the word “I” has been
banished from the language; the citizens, raised from birth to be proper collectivists,
refer to themselves as “we.” But the protagonist, Equality 7-
Despite some obvious parallels to 1984 (Rand’s novel was published a full decade
before Orwell’s, by the way), the two books are not really that similar. Anthem is
a much more optimistic story: unlike Orwell’s Ingsoc Party, the totalitarian leaders
of Rand’s dystopia are hopelessly inept, and though Equality 7-
This is a good, if simple, book. If you like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, you’ll like Anthem. Available in both hardcover and mass market paperback.
The Fountainhead — The trials and triumphs of rational architect Howard Roark, who
dynamites one of his own buildings to keep his principles from being compromised.
Many people cite this as their favorite Rand novel, but I’ve never cared for it;
Atlas Shrugged’s laissez-
Atlas Shrugged — In Sewer, Gas & Electric, Joan Fine describes Atlas Shrugged as “Das Kapital for capitalists, with chase scenes and heavy petting.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Rand’s magnum opus has a godlike engineer named John Galt leading America’s business elite in a successful revolt against an evil socialist government. The state withers away; a golden age of free enterprise dawns. As for the faceless masses who die during the transition: brother, they were asking for it. Available in both hardcover, trade, and mass market paperback.
Non-
In general, I find Rand’s essays much harder going than her novels. Her expository style is too angry for its own good; in her eagerness to express contempt for philosophies (and philosophers) that she does not agree with, Rand often fails to adequately develop or defend her own ideas. That’s a shame, because once you get past the vitriol, you realize that she did have some intelligent things to say—if only she could have said them without shouting.
For the New Intellectual — A collection of the major philosophical speeches from Rand’s novels, plus a lengthy introductory essay analyzing “the development of Western culture, the causes of its progress, its decline, its present crisis, and the road to an intellectual renaissance.”
The Virtue of Selfishness — The first in a series of books reprinting essays Rand and others originally wrote for The Objectivist Newsletter and its successor, The Objectivist magazine. As the title suggests, the essays in this volume deal with matters of ethics. Includes contributions by Nathaniel Branden.
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal — Essays concerning “the moral aspects of capitalism.” Includes contributions by Nathaniel Branden, Robert Hessen, and Alan Greenspan. Yes, that Alan Greenspan.
Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology — Essays summarizing Rand’s theory of concepts.
Originally published in 1967, ITOE was later expanded to include excerpts from a
series of “epistemology workshops” that Rand had conducted in New York City between
1969 and 1971. The book also contains an essay by Leonard Peikoff on “the analytic-
The Romantic Manifesto — Essays on art, literature and aesthetics. For me, this is
the most irksome of Rand’s works, being little more than a series of diatribes about
which forms and uses of art Rand finds philosophically acceptable, coupled with dire
pronouncements about the psychology and morals of people who don’t share her tastes:
basically, if you like non-
The New Left: The Anti-
Philosophy: Who Needs It — A collection of essays on a wide array of subjects, published posthumously.
The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought — A second posthumous essay collection.
The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z — A compilation of “key statements” from Rand’s works, organized by subject. Although, as the editor’s preface is careful to point out, these excerpts are no substitute for reading the primary source material in its entirety, the Lexicon can be very useful if you’re trying to refresh your memory, or to track down exactly where Rand discusses a particular topic. My favorite Randian touch: Lexicon subject headings that refer to concepts Rand considered philosophically invalid or misleading—like “Common Good,” “Public Property,” and “Redistribution of Wealth”—are bracketed in quote marks as a warning to the reader.
Letters of Ayn Rand — A potentially fascinating book, spoiled by some bad editorial choices. First of all, this is really the selected letters of Ayn Rand, and some of the selections are maddening—the book contains over half a dozen letters to Leonebel Jacobs, a fairly obscure portrait artist Rand knew back in the 1940s, but only a single letter apiece to Nathaniel and Barbara Branden, two of the most central figures in her life.
There are some other questionable omissions as well. A section devoted to Rand’s correspondence with philosopher John Hospers contains only Rand’s half of the exchange, even though Hospers was apparently willing to allow his own letters to Rand to be published, and even though he expressed concern that “[Rand’s] summary of what I said sometimes did not reproduce what I really did say.” I for one would like to have seen both sides of the dialogue; it would have been a rare opportunity to observe Rand actually debating her ideas. If the problem was lack of space, I think the smart move would have been to make room for Hospers’ letters by cutting out some of Rand’s less essential correspondence, like her note thanking Leonebel Jacobs for “the wonderful cheese” he sent her in 1948.
Oh well. Maybe sometime in the future, after the current controllers of her estate have gone on to that great Dead Letter Office in the sky, a more complete version of Rand’s correspondence will become available. Until then, the anemic Letters of Ayn Rand will have to do.
Journals of Ayn Rand — After the disappointing Letters, I skipped Rand’s Journals
altogether. Judging from the publisher’s description, however, the selections in
this volume are almost exclusively work-
Ayn Rand’s Marginalia: Her Critical Comments on the Writings of over 20 Authors — Like a lot of opinionated people, Rand liked to scribble commentary in the margins of the books and articles she read. Now, for the low, low price of $14.95, you can own a collection of these scribbles. Did somebody say “laundry list”?
Still More Non-
She’s been dead for twenty-
The Ayn Rand Column: Written for the Los Angeles Times — For a brief period in the early ‘60s, Rand wrote a weekly opinion column for the L.A. Times. This is it.
Return of the Primitive: The Anti-
Russian Writings on Hollywood — A translation of two previously unpublished pamplets on the American film industry written by Rand when she was still a teenager in Russia.
Why Businessmen Need Philosophy — The cover says “by Ayn Rand,” but the publisher’s description suggests that this volume consists mostly of other people’s material: “The book includes a title essay by Leonard Peikoff and two essays by Ayn Rand never before published in book form... Twelve additional essays by Leonard Peikoff and other contributors are included.”
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Nathaniel Branden (born Nathan Blumenthal) first met Ayn Rand in 1950, after a series of fan letters he had written so impressed her that she invited him to visit her in person. Nathan and his girlfriend (later wife) Barbara soon became regular guests in Rand’s home, and they ultimately formed the nucleus of “The Collective”—an inner circle of young fans who attended weekly salons in Rand’s Manhattan apartment.
Rand was twenty-
Branden told his version of the story in his 1989 memoir Judgment Day: My Years with
Ayn Rand; a “significantly revised edition...with many cuts and many additions, a
new introduction, and an expanded epilogue” was published in 1999. Judgment Day is
a good, gossipy read, although the accuracy of Branden’s account has been called
into question by a number of people, including his now ex-
In addition to his association with Rand, Nathaniel Branden is well known for his
work in psychology and the self-
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Barbara Branden (née Weidman) is the author of what is so far the most comprehensive
Ayn Rand biography, The Passion of Ayn Rand. Passion was the first book to publicly
spill the beans about the Rand-
But speaking of film versions—in 1998, the Showtime cable network produced a TV movie of The Passion of Ayn Rand, with Julie Delpy as Barbara, Eric Stoltz as Nathaniel, and Helen Mirren as The Smoking Philosopher.
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I only wish. Frank O’Connor, Rand’s long-
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In 1968, after learning that Nathaniel Branden had secretly become involved with yet another woman—and that Barbara Branden had covered for him—Ayn Rand broke with both Brandens. She removed Nathaniel’s name from the dedication page of Atlas Shrugged (subsequent editions are dedicated only to her husband), wrote both Nathaniel and Barbara out of her will, and issued a public statement repudiating the Brandens “totally and permanently, as spokesmen for me or for Objectivism.”
Once the dust settled, Barbara Branden’s cousin Leonard Peikoff became the new heir-
I won’t hide the fact that I don’t like Peikoff much. As an intellectual and a writer he shares all of Rand’s worst traits but none of her redeeming features. That said, his work was useful to me when I was researching Sewer, Gas & Electric.
Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand — “The definitive statement of Ayn Rand’s philosophy.” Rand herself never got around to writing a comprehensive treatise on Objectivism; at her death, her philosophical ideas remained scattered throughout her many books, with no attempt on her part to fit all the pieces together. Objectivism:..., or OPAR as it is sometimes called, is Peikoff’s attempt at a grand synthesis. As a grand synthesis, it’s pretty good. Adapted from an Objectivist lecture series that Peikoff prepared with Rand’s help during the last decade of her life, OPAR is the closest thing to an official Objectivist catechism that you’re ever going to see.
Unfortunately, like a lot of catechisms, OPAR comes up short in the critical self-
Bottom line: if you’re looking for a chapter-
The Ominous Parallels — In this, his first book, Peikoff sets out to expose the frightening
similarities between the intellectual climate in Weimer Germany (which led to the
Nazi takeover) and the intellectual climate in late-
Ominous Parallels was initially slated for publication in the late ‘60s, but Ayn Rand’s criticism of the first few dozen drafts was so severe that it did not actually see print until 1982. Luckily for Peikoff, Western civilization did not collapse in the interim.
While there’s some small comic relief to be had from Peikoff’s attempt to blame Immanuel Kant for the rise of Hitler and Stalin, I’d recommend skipping this one. For a genuinely provocative exploration of the intellectual and cultural factors that paved the way for the Holocaust, check out Daniel Jonah Goldhagen’s 1996 bestseller, Hitler’s Willing Executioners.
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If Ayn Rand is Objectivism’s Karl Marx, and Leonard Peikoff is its Vladimir Lenin,
then David Kelley is its Leon Trotsky (watch out for ice picks, Dave!). A former
associate of Peikoff’s, Kelley was kicked out of the official Objectivist movement
in 1989 for conduct unbecoming a true believer—after ignoring a warning to stop hanging
around with libertarians, Kelley stepped completely over the line by writing an essay,
“A Question of Sanction,” in which he recommended greater tolerance of, and dialogue
with, non-
Kelley’s writing style, in marked contrast to Peikoff’s (and Rand’s), is pleasant and noncensorious. He expresses disagreement without becoming abusive; he summarizes opposing points of view fairly and accurately; and he encourages his readers to investigate other philosophies for themselves rather than accept his interpretations as gospel. A genuinely reasonable guy, in other words—even when he’s wrong.
To people unfamiliar with Objectivism, Kelley’s choice of subject matter may occasionally
seem eccentric. There are some topics that Objectivists find far more controversial
and worthy of comment than do non-
The Evidence of the Senses: A Realist Theory of Perception — Case in point. The Evidence of the Senses is an attempt to refute Cartesian skepticism—to prove, in other words, that our senses really are reliable sources of information about the external universe.
Now, I don’t know what things are like in D.C., where Kelley’s Society is headquartered,
but down in my neck of the woods, true Cartesian skeptics are exceedingly thin on
the ground. I mean, yes, I went to college, and yes, I had the obligatory late-
Truth and Toleration — Another case in point, though understandable in context. Truth and Toleration makes the startling claim that even decent, rational people can sometimes disagree about matters of fact. To be fair, Truth and Toleration was written in response to Leonard Peikoff’s Fact and Value (itself a response to Kelley’s “A Question of Sanction”), in which Peikoff asserted essentially the opposite—e.g., that the espousal of ideas contrary to Objectivism is a sign of immoral character.
A Life of One’s Own: Individual Rights and the Welfare State — A challenge to the morality of the welfare system, this is the most timely and topical of Kelley’s works that I’ve read so far. Not being a big fan of natural rights theory, I was less than blown away by his ethical arguments; his practical arguments carry more weight, and I wish he’d spent more time on them. Still, this is probably the best book to start with if you’re looking for an introduction to Kelley. Available in both hardcover and trade paperback.
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Chris Sciabarra is a Doctor of Political Philosophy at NYU with an interest in Rand and Objectivism.
Ayn Rand: the Russian Radical — Rand wrote in the postcript to Atlas Shrugged that
“The only philosophical debt I can acknowledge is to Aristotle.” But in Ayn Rand:
the Russian Radical, Sciabarra argues that Rand’s debt was broader than that: “[I]n
my own research, I discovered similarities between Rand’s approach and the dialectical
approach of Hegelians and Marxists. Rand would have vehemently denied such a link...
I grew certain, however, that at some point in her intellectual development, Rand
had absorbed, perhaps unwittingly, crucial dialectical methods of analysis... Rand
was born during a revolutionary period in Russian history. That context is the key
to understanding the peculiar character of her Objectivism, her essentially dialectical
mode of inquiry, and her radical critique of contemporary society.” This is a well-
Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand — Edited by Chris Sciabarra and Mimi Gladstein, this is an anthology of essays about Rand and feminism, including contributions by Camille Paglia and Susan Brownmiller.
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Like Ayn Rand, the charismatic libertarian Murray Rothbard (1926-
Rothbard wrote numerous books about economics and libertarianism, none of which I've
actually gotten around to reading. He also wrote a wickedly funny one-
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Jerome Tuccille has written over a dozen books on politics, investing, and the world of high finance, but his most enduring work is a satirical expose of the libertarian movement written over a quarter century ago.
It Usually Begins with Ayn Rand — A tongue-
It Still Begins with Ayn Rand — A sequel to the above, which follows the progress of the libertarian movement through the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. I haven’t read this one yet, but I assume it’ll be good.
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Michael Shermer is a debunker of pseudoscientific beliefs, in the tradition of James Randi and Martin Gardner.
Why People Believe Weird Things: Psuedoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions
of Our Time — A fairly standard entry in the debunking genre, covering such diverse
topics as alien abduction, creationism, and near-
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Mary Gaitskill is the author of the short-
Two Girls, Fat and Thin — The tale of two emotionally damaged women brought together
by their mutual interest in a very loosely disguised Ayn Rand figure. Justine Shade,
the thin girl, is writing a magazine article on “Anna Granite,” a Romanian-
First impressions to the contrary, the central focus of Two Girls, Fat and Thin is
not philosophy or cult movements, but sexual abuse. During the course of their interview,
it comes out that both Dorothy and Justine were molested as children. Dorothy latched
on to Anna Granite’s philosophy as an antidote to the feelings of powerlessness engendered
by the abuse; Justine, we later learn, found her own solace in sado-
Ayn Rand would have hated this novel. Beyond the unflattering picture it paints of the Definitist movement, it deals with the sordid, unheroic side of human nature that Rand felt had no place in fiction. But that’s her loss; Gaitskill is a talented author, and Two Girls, Fat and Thin, despite the grim subject matter, is a good read.
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I first saw Nancy Kress in person at the 1998 World Science Fiction Convention, where
she appeared on a panel called “Women Who Write Hard SF.” After a couple of her fellow
panelists went on at length about how they liked to “puncture male stereotypes about
ugly smart women” by wearing make-
Beggars in Spain — Winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards, Beggars in Spain is set
in a near future where advanced genetic engineering techniques allow parents to customize
the biological traits of their children. When a business tycoon named Roger Camden
learns of an experimental new genetic modification that can eliminate the need for
sleep, he insists on purchasing it for his unborn daughter. The girl, Leisha, becomes
one of a generation of Sleepless children, who as a side-
The Rand figure in this story is Dr. Kenzo Yagai, inventor of a working cold-
The title of the book comes from one of these debates. During an argument about what moral obligations Sleepless have to Sleepers, Leisha is asked “What do you do about the beggars in Spain?”—meaning, what do you do about the people who, by choice or chance, have nothing to offer you but an empty palm? Am I really my brother’s keeper, even if I don't need him for anything? Why? Rationally, why? This question carries a special relevance for Leisha: because of an accident during the fertilization process, she has a fraternal twin sister, Alice, who lacks the Sleepless gene.
A great read, Beggars in Spain was especially fascinating for me because it dealt with many of the same issues that I was tackling in Sewer, Gas & Electric. Highly recommended.
Stinger — Further evidence that great minds think alike. This nominally sci-