The Ayn Rand Reader

by Ayn Rand, Leonard Peikoff (Introduction), Gary Hull (Editor)

The Fountainhead , which became one of the most influential and widely read philosophical novels of the twentieth century, made Ayn Rand famous. An impassioned proponent of reason, rational self-interest, individualism, and laissez-faire capitalism, she expressed her unique views in numerous works of fiction and non-fiction that have been brought together for the first time in this one-of-a-kind volume.Containing excerpts from all her novels--including Atlas Shrugged, Anthem , and We The Living--The Ayn Rand Reader is a perfect introduction for those who have never read Rand, and provides teachers with an excellent guide to the basics of her viewpoint.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Classics, Reference, Economics, Literature, Anthologies

497 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Polemical novels, such as The Fountainhead (1943), of primarily known Russian-American writer Ayn Rand, originally Alisa Rosenbaum, espouse the doctrines of objectivism and political libertarianism.

Fiction of this better author and philosopher developed a system that she named. Educated, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early initially duds and two Broadway plays, Rand achieved fame. In 1957, she published Atlas Shrugged , her best-selling work.

Rand advocated reason and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism as opposed to altruism. She condemned the immoral initiation of force and supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system, based on recognizing individual rights, including private property. Often associated with the modern movement in the United States, Rand opposed and viewed anarchism. In art, she promoted romantic realism. She sharply criticized most philosophers and their traditions with few exceptions.

Books of Rand sold more than 37 million copies. From literary critics, her fiction received mixed reviews with more negative reviews for her later work. Afterward, she turned to nonfiction to promote her philosophy, published her own periodicals, and released several collections of essays until her death in 1982.

After her death, her ideas interested academics, but philosophers generally ignored or rejected her and argued that her approach and work lack methodological rigor. She influenced some right conservatives. The movement circulates her ideas to the public and in academic settings.

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm looking for a copy of Rand's "The Return of the Primitive," but haven't run across one yet. This book contains an excerpt of it and other writings.

I think I like her fiction more than the straight philosophy or essays. Her ideas about individualism and self-sufficiency strike a chord with me.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This woman is bat shit crazy. Whoa.

[Kyle Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don't have the time or inclination to pick up one of her greats... this book is filled with much of what made them so.

[Ted Burke · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Ayn Rand Sampler is a promotional give away that has been sitting my house for years. Never a fan of the writer, I ignored it, confident that I knew from reading of The Fountainhead and selections from her political philosophy, just what a rank, turgid crypto-fascist Ayn Rand was. I hadn't, though, read what seems her central effort, Atlas Shrugged, which her followers consider being the highest synthesis of her work as both artist and a philosopher; what the hell, I thought, I needed something to read on the bus, so I decided to take the book along and read the sixty page excerpt from the novel. I was prepared to be surprised--one would think that a writer as famous as Rand, no matter how awful a writer or pretentious a thinker, had to have written at least one book that transcends everything she has going against her.

I thought I would power my way through the pages, but I couldn't even read ten of the sixty pages Rand's publisher selected for us to read. As has been said by critics more willing to speak at length about her inadequacies as a stylist, Rand's style of writing is wooden for great lengths, less rhythmic or musical as, say, the typical photo caption; making matters worse is when the late writer/pundit would try to lift her writing up a bit and applying similes that read more like afterthoughts rather than spontaneous insights, and metaphors that performed the rather mechanical function of boosting her storyline--which is, of course, one dualistic straw-man argument--to a philosophical level. Mechanical is the operative word here, as the attempt on Rand's part to frame her ideas about unrestrained power for brilliant capitalists in fictional disguise leaves us with a choppy, big footed shaggy dog of a novel that is in the tradition of unreadable novels-as-polemic. I closed the book and finished my ride to work looking at the neighborhoods I have passed through a thousand times before. This was more exciting, yes, more illuminating than a thousand pages of Ayn Rand's crabby, delusional exhortations to live free.

[Jayson Campeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cognizant of the fact that I am so deeply implanted in socialist/collectivists ideals that I actually misread much of Ayn Rands mockery of socialism as legit commentary. She would have been displeased. The reader does a nice job of revealing the essence of her Objectivist philosophy. Although I vehemently disagree with much of what she says, she does give one food for thought. I understand our present day capitalist pigs now. I am saddened by the fact that she is so opposed to altruism. I am not sure that she ever experience kindness of heart or unconditional love or care. As this read was clearly outside of my wheelhouse, it was challenging at times to read but worth the effort.

[Sean Donnelly]

Okay, alright.
We all know that Ayn Rand is both equally loved and hated.
Ugh. Makes for more appealing reading??
Her whole 'Objectivist' philosophy is arguably ridiculous,
But then again so was most of Neitzches zUbermensche (spelling? God German is such a Great but confusing language)
Eternal recurrence, Will to power nonsense.
My comparison being that they're both arguably very misunderstood.
Enough quasi intoxicated ramblings....
Giving her another go.
Peace

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great anthology of Rand's fictional and philosophical works and tying of the two together.

[Michael Fortner · Rating 4 out of 5]

just because its fashionable...