Atlas Slugged AGAIN

by Ellis Weiner

This is, supposedly, the "secret sequel" to Atlas Slugged, the monumental best seller by Annyn Rant. Written in 1968 (ten years after the original), it was suppressed by its publisher, and ultimately by Rant herself, because one of its main characters was though to be too obviously based on a person from real life, who would sue the publisher and the author, and win.

146 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Peenworm Grubologist · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dead-on and hilarious parody that could only come from having actually read the Damned Thing all the way through, thereby distinguishing Weiner from 90% of the fans of the original.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

My difficulty in writing this blog should probably be communicated to the reader, for it conveys a sense of the book's true value. I am challenged to write this blog because I cannot stop laughing about this book.
The book is Atlas Slugged Again, and Ellis Weiner's masterful parody is a worthy read for anyone who has ever read or heard of Ayn Rand. This piece, obviously a parody of the 20th century classic Atlas Shrugged, will leave readers with a sense of how to feel about the true followers of Rand's original. It will also leave you aching from laughter.
Naturally, the storyline takes as its foundation the basic framework of its inspiration, Rand's best-known novel. In this society, John Glatt is “the smartest, bravest, most rational man in society” (and I am sure that you already see where this is going), and free-will and self-interest are at the core of all great achievements within the context of the Age of Production. The writing highlights Rand's idiosyncratic writing techniques and flourishes quite well. The author's greatest advantage is his keen awareness of how to utilize these tendencies of Rand to full effect.
Ellis Weiner is no stranger to the realm of parody and humor. In fact, his professional career is marked by great achievements in this respect (and, according to the official website, he has written for “literally every other magazine that ever existed”). In his early years, he worked as an editor for National Lampoon. He has written many praiseworthy books, including The Big Jewish Book for Jews and How to Raise a Jewish Dog. You might even recognize his name...
...Atlas Slugged is the well-crafted and hilariously antagonizing “secret sequel” to the towering masterpiece. Both lovers and haters of Ayn Rand's fiction can learn to appreciate this fantastic book which delves into the depths of the human experience and problems of free will. In addition, avid readers of general parody will appreciate Weiner's delightful approach to this infamous and mysterious classic of literature. Finally, Atlas Slugged Again comes highly recommended for anyone who wishes to laugh for most of the remainder of this year.

[Arensb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, not great.
Rather than being a straight-up parody of Atlas Shrugged, "Atlas Slugged Again" is either a parody of a sequel, or a sequel of a parody. That is, in the world of Atlas Slugged Again, there was once a book named Atlas Slugged, starring Dragnie Tagbord, John Glatt, Hunk Rawbone, Regnad Daghammarskjold, and my favorite, Sanfrancisco Nabisco Alcoa D'Lightful D'Lovely De Soto, and how they stopped the world economy by convincing the brilliant, talented, productive, and handsome geniuses of the world to go on strike. That book has never been written.
In this much shorter book, the world economy still manages to limp along despite every country being a People's Republic, because the mere idea of America is so inspirational as to boost productivity. So our virile and rational heroes go about destroying the idea of America. With, of course, frequent pauses to pontificate for half an hour.
Pick it up if you've suffered through Atlas Shrugged and you can get it cheap.

Edit: I had to be reminded of it, but the plot of Atlas Slugged Again draws not only on the world of Atlas Shrugged, but Ayn Rand's public love affair with Nathaniel Branden, a man several two decades her junior. That includes the dramatic breakup, somehow shoehorned into appearing rational, because she couldn't admit behaving irrationally.