Ayn Rand (1905–1982)
Author of Atlas Shrugged
About the Author
Ayn Rand, 1905 - 1982 Novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand was born Alice Rosenbaum on February 2, 1905 in St. Petersburg, Russia. She graduated with highest honors in history from the University of Petrograd in 1924, and she came to the United States in 1926 with dreams of becoming a screenwriter. In show more 1929, she married actor Charles "Frank" O'Connor. After arriving in Hollywood, Rand was spotted by Cecil B. DeMille standing at the gate of his studio and gave her a job as an extra in King of Kings. She also worked as a script reader and a wardrobe girl and, in 1932, she sold Red Pawn to Universal Studios. In the 1950's, she returned to New York City where she hosted a Saturday night group she called "the collective." It was also during this time that Rand received a fan letter from a young man, Nathaniel Branden. She was impressed with his letter, and she wrote him back. Her correspondence with him eventually led to an affair that lasted over a decade. He became her chief spokesperson and codified the principles of her novels into a strict philosophical system (objectivism) and founded an institute bearing his name. Their affair ended in 1968 when Branden got involved with another one of Rand's disciples. According to Rand, people are inherently selfish and act only out of personal interest making a selfish act, a rational one. It is from this belief that her characters play out their lives. Rand's first novel was "We the Living" (1936) and was followed by "Anthem" (1938), "The Fountainhead" (1943), and "Atlas Shrugged" (1957). All four of her novels made the top ten of the controversial list of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century. On March 6, 1982, Ayn Rand died in her New York City apartment. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Ayn Rand
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, with Additional Articles By Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, and Robert Hessen (1967) — Author — 1,259 copies, 9 reviews
The Romantic Manifesto: A Philosophy of Literature (second revised edition, 1975) (1975) 925 copies, 11 reviews
The Early Ayn Rand: Revised Edition: A Selection From Her Unpublished Fiction (1984) 586 copies, 7 reviews
Ayn Rand's Marginalia : Her Critical Comments on the Writings of over Twenty Authors (1995) 45 copies, 2 reviews
Textbook of Americanism 9 copies
כמעין המתגבר 5 copies
In defense of Capitalism: Newspaper Commentary from the Ayn Rand Institute 1996-2000 (2000) 5 copies
Conservatism: An Obituary 3 copies
The Moral Factor 3 copies
The Objectivist 3 copies
Global Balkanization 3 copies
The Objectivist Vol 9 No 11 2 copies
The Meaning of Money 2 copies
Ego 2 copies
Is Atlas Shrugging? 2 copies
Cultural Update 2 copies
The Fascist New Frontier 2 copies
The Objectivist Vol 6 No 1 2 copies
The Objectivist Vol 6 No 7 2 copies
The Objectivist (August 1970) 2 copies
The Objectivist Vol 9 No 6 2 copies
The Objectivist Vol 7 No 7 2 copies
The Objectivist Vol 9 No 7 2 copies
The Objectivist Vol 9 No 12 2 copies
The Objectivist (April 1970) 1 copy
La Vertu d'égoïsme 1 copy
The Fountainhead (1949) 1 copy
The Objectivist (March 1970) 1 copy
The Objectivist (May 1970) 1 copy
The Objectivist (June 1970) 1 copy
Atlas Shruggged [Abridged] 1 copy
The Objectivist (July 1970) 1 copy
Kapitalizm; Bilinmeyen İdeal 1 copy
İş Adamları İçin Felsefe 1 copy
İdeal 1 copy
16 Ocak Gecesi 1 copy
The Fountainhead [Abridged] 1 copy
Revolta e Atlasit Vol.2 1 copy
REVOLTA E ATLASIT V.III 1 copy
REVOLTA E ATLASIT V.II 1 copy
The Objectivist (May 1971) 1 copy
REVOLTA E ATLASIT V.I 1 copy
The Objectivist (April 1971) 1 copy
The Objectivist (March 1971) 1 copy
BURIMI I JETES 1 copy
This is John Galt speaking 1 copy
The Objectivist (June 1971) 1 copy
The Objectivist (July 1971) 1 copy
la rebelión de atlas 1 copy
AYN RAND Compatible with Atlas Shrugged 1957 Random House FIRST PRINTING Vtg AYN RAND Hardcover 1 copy
The Quotable Rand 1 copy
The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus from Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (Mongolian translation) 1 copy
The Roots of War 1 copy
Velicanstveni Izvor, Knjiga II Ellsworth M. Toohey (The Fountainhead Pt. 2, Croatian translation) 1 copy
ATLAS SHRUGGED, FOUNTAINHEAD, WE THE LIVING, AND THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS Easton Press (2000) 1 copy
Enduring Questions Dupl. 1 copy
Kildens utspring 1 1 copy
El manantial, Tomo I 1 copy
Think Twice 1 copy
The Husband I Bought 1 copy
Good Copy 1 copy
Escort 1 copy
Her Second Career 1 copy
The Rational Faculty 1 copy
The Objectivist, Vol. 8, No. 4, April 1969 (Nazi Politics (III) By Leonard Peikoff; The Depths At Their Heights By Kay… (1969) 1 copy
Atlas Shrugged [TWO VOLS) 1 copy
Atlas Shrugged 1 copy
Источник 1 copy
El manantial - Tomo II 1 copy
Los que vivimos, Vol II 1 copy
The Objectivist, Vols. 5-7 1 copy
the Objectivist, Vols, 8-10 1 copy
Sanction of the Victims 1 copy
The Brain Drain - Side A 1 copy
Fiction Writing Excerpt Tape 1 copy
El manantial, Tomo II 1 copy
Associated Works
The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature (1999) — Contributor — 186 copies, 2 reviews
Dystopia: A Collection of Early Dystopian Novels (6 Classic Novels and 1 Short Story By H.G. Wells, Jack London, Ayn… (2011) — Contributor — 5 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Rosenbaum, Alisa Zinov'yevna
Розенбаум, Алиса Зиновьевна
O'Connor, Ayn Rand - Birthdate
- 1905-02-02
- Date of death
- 1982-03-06
- Burial location
- Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York, USA
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Russia (birth)
USA (naturalized) - Country (for map)
- Russia
USA - Birthplace
- Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
- Place of death
- New York, New York, USA
- Cause of death
- heart failure
- Places of residence
- St. Petersburg, Russia
New York, New York, USA
Hollywood, California, USA
Crimea
Chicago, Illinois, USA - Education
- University of Petrograd (Certificate of Graduation | history | philology | law)
State Institute for Cinema Arts - Occupations
- novelist
screenwriter
playwright
philosopher - Relationships
- O'Connor, Frank (spouse)
- Organizations
- Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals
Members
Discussions
Reviews
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Rand covered all of the same themes in a more coherent and expedient manner in ANTHEM. Here, her dystopia nearly resembles modern society, except everyone acts according to one basic thought pattern -production or entitlement- and declares as much every other page.
There's a lot more to be said about this novel's ambitions and failures thereof, the most obvious of which is that book is at least twice as long as necessary, but those are grounds for a much longer review some other time.
Despite the one-star rating, as a hate-read this is easily a 5-star book. I love dissecting Rand's ideas, and here she offers a near-interminable supply of one-dimensional characters, monologues, asides, plot points, and symbols.… (more)
There's a lot more to be said about this novel's ambitions and failures thereof, the most obvious of which is that book is at least twice as long as necessary, but those are grounds for a much longer review some other time.
Despite the one-star rating, as a hate-read this is easily a 5-star book. I love dissecting Rand's ideas, and here she offers a near-interminable supply of one-dimensional characters, monologues, asides, plot points, and symbols.… (more)
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 256
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 71,657
- Popularity
- #177
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 1,068
- ISBNs
- 1,041
- Languages
- 29
- Favorited
- 289
