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By the author of Atlas Shrugged. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

We Are Lemmings Being Led By the Least of Us
I read this book for a graduate class in political philosophy.
Ayn Rand (1905-1982), in this book written in 1937, expertly refutes collectivists schemes; such as, Communism and Fascism and shows the utter peril that collectivism poses to individual freedom.One of my favorite historians, Lord Acton, warned us in the 19th century "that socialism is slavery."

This is a short novel about a man who escapes a society from which all individuality has been squeezed.Written a full decade before Orwell's "1984" Rand expertly shows how collectivism is destroying individuality and is being practiced throughout the world including the "New Deal" programs in the United States.During this time in world, history people are becoming serfs to the state as F. A. Hayek, the noted libertarian economist would put it.Rand's philosophy is really quite simple; planning is a synonym for "collectivism" and "collectivism" is a metaphor for Communism.Rand's literary style is easy to read and understand, I love how she uses the third person plural in the book until the hero finds his "ego" at which time she switches over to first person singular.This is a book that should be read by all who wonder what role the government should have in our lives.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in political philosophy.
... Read more

Product Description
This landmark anthology is the first to engage critically the writings of Ayn Rand from feminist perspectives. The interdisciplinary feminist strategies of re-reading Rand range from the lightness of camp to the darkness of de Sade, from postandrogyny to poststructuralism. A highly charged dialogue on Rand's legacy provides the forum for a reexamination of feminism and its relationship to egoism, individualism, and capitalism. Rand's place in contemporary feminism is assessed through comparisons with other twentieth-century feminists, such as Beauvoir, Wolf, Paglia, Eisler, and Gilligan. What results is as provocative in its implications for Rand's system as it is for feminism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Rembrandt confetti
Rand's morphing in a feminist is the entire object of the book; hence the new term "Randian-Feminism." In "Looking Back," the essay "Ayn Rand: The Reluctant Feminist" is a nice piece of misinformation, since Rand was not a reluctant feminist. "Feminist Rereadings of Rand's Fiction" is a tiresome attempt to squeeze meanings out of scenes and characters of Rand's books that she mostly never meant. This is accomplished with a huge amount of psychobabble, qualifying it for the psychobabble award of the decade. They pedantically slice many of Rand's phrases, finding links between anything and everything in their content, however irrelevant, then assemble these into a new set of "meanings."They are like monkeys with scissors, cutting up a Rembrandt, and turning it into a Jackson Pollock. The last part, "Toward a Randian Feminism?" consists of views on Rand's feminist possibilities. Again, through pure psychobabble and distortion, various writers bend and stretch Rand into a ridiculous caricature feminist - even a camp feminist, thanks very much. This lame attempt to morph Rand into a feminist won't work in the end - like graffiti on her tombstone, it will eventually wash off.

N. Branden's comments silly and layered with irony
Nathaniel Branden writes in his review: "...this book, criticisms of Rand and all, will do more to advance the cause of Rand's work than all their (actual Objectivists) true-believer praise and idiotic adulation."

Branden should review some of his own writings about making groundless, arbitrary assertions.Just exactly why or how is such a book superior in "advancing the cause"?As AR would have said: "No answer is given".

Secondly - anyone familiar with the 'personal history' of AR and Branden should find his use of the term "idiotic adulation" to be layered with irony.You couldn't find a more idiotic way to express 'adulation' for someone who is in the role of your mentor then ...well ... you know.

Sorry about that - but it had to be said.

Sciabarra is pretty obviously not too bright, and no comparison can be made between such a so-called 'scholar' and the truly educated and intelligent "poor souls at ARI".

Just another non-intellectual book on Ayn Rand that will be forgotten by the time Objectivism really takes hold.

Excellent wide-ranging scholarly discussion
I'm a contributor to this anthology. This book covers a lot of new ground, bringing together people and perspectives all over the map, from different disciplines and backgrounds, and even three continents. Few things provide a more fruitful and explosive combination than Ayn Rand and feminism. While most contributors to the book are feminists, at least one, maybe two are anti-feminist (depending on how one would classify Camille Paglia). Most contributors are positive to Rand, in the sense that they/we feel that Rand contributed a lot of value (and that more value can be gained by engaging Rand and feminism with each other), but not in the sense of uncritical idolatry. Rand provokes a lot of polarized response: idolatry or condemnation. What Rand needs is a more balanced and scholarly treatment, and engagement with other thinkers and traditions in intellectual history, and this volume does provide that. Feminism has individualist and collectivist wings, and the collectivist wings have been too dominating recently; engaging with Rand can lead to a revival of individualist feminism. In my own contribution, entitled _The Female Hero: A Randian-Feminist Synthesis_, (ifi.uio.no/~thomas/po/female-hero.html) I apply and extend Rand's conception of heroism to women, leading towards a new radical individualist feminism which is interestingly also an ancient vision of female strength and power. Thus I compare and combine Rand with myths of Amazons, and writers who explore these ancient images of power, writers like Merlin Stone, Barbara Walker and Riane Eisler and scholarly accounts of ancient goddesses and heroines. I also discuss androgyny and postandrogyny, and non-patriarchal sexualities. My article is available on my web site. I would also recommend the web site of Chris Sciabarra (co-editor of the book), where you can find a subsite about the book, which includes highlights from reviews and discussions of the book, including the archives of a structured online seminar going through all the articles of the entire book.

Many disciplines brought to bear ...
This anthology includes a marvelous variety of perspectives on Rand's philosophy as well as her fiction; to criticize this work based on the all-or-nothing behavior of the ARI or on (mis)perceptions of Rand's "egoism" is to fail to engage the actual subjects of the articles themselves.To address some of the arguments leveled in previous reviews:

This book does not claim to "promote" Rand, nor are its articles written from the perspective of the true believer.To disagree with Rand's Objectivism does nothing to address the contents of the anthology.As a matter of fact, several of the contributors themselves strongly disagree with and/or disapprove of Rand, for various reasons.

The editors do not claim Rand was herself a feminist, although the essays provide a framework for interpreting Rand from a feminist perspective.Further, Rand's self-identification as NOT a feminist does not mean that there is nothing in her work that can be applied to feminism, or from which feminism might benefit.

And to claim that the volume is trying to "cash in" on Rand's name is to ignore the entire scope of literary, philosophical, cultural, psychoanalytic, and feminist criticism.The work of the literary critic, for example, involves interpreting a text from a new perspective in order to suggest meanings or structures, to uncover parallels or contradictions, and to struggle with conceptual knots found in the text.One reading will differ from another, opening up different aspects of the text that may or may not have anything to do with the author; once a book has been written, anyone who reads it is free to interpret it as he or she sees fit.For the most part, the contributors here provide in-depth scholarly analyses and plenty of documentation to support their theses.By placing Rand in a sealed box, refusing to allow her work to be interpreted and discovered, and refusing to allow new minds to draw new conclusions from her stated premises, her devoted followers only guarrantee the death of Rand's ideas.

For those interested in current Rand scholarship rather than the repitition of Objectivist mantras, this anthology is superb.If you can't bear to hear any new thoughts on Rand, re-read Atlas Shrugged.If you hate Ayn Rand and think her philosophy is the root of all self-serving capitalist American evil, why the heck are you reading this anthology???Save your cult-baiting for the Down With Objectivism website.

CULT?
The following of Ayn Rand is a not a "cult."As rational people, we should be able to draw the distinction.About this book: while it is certainly interesting, Rand was never a feminist.Though the authorstry, its a stretch.Nevertheless, its good reading. ... Read more

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Ayn Rand's classic in paperback form. ... Read more

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123 Pages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Ayn Rand - Anthem - A powerful read
This book was very enlighting.A moving experience, giving the reader some powerful things to think about.A brilliant text by obviously a brilliant woman.I highly recommend it.It is my first Ayn Rand book but certainly not my last.

We Are Lemmings Being Led By the Least of Us
I read this book for a graduate class in political philosophy.
Ayn Rand (1905-1982), in this book written in 1937, expertly refutes collectivists schemes; such as, Communism and Fascism and shows the utter peril that collectivism poses to individual freedom.One of my favorite historians, Lord Acton, warned us in the 19th century "that socialism is slavery."

This is a short novel about a man who escapes a society from which all individuality has been squeezed.Written a full decade before Orwell's "1984" Rand expertly shows how collectivism is destroying individuality and is being practiced throughout the world including the "New Deal" programs in the United States.During this time in world, history people are becoming serfs to the state as F. A. Hayek, the noted libertarian economist would put it.Rand's philosophy is really quite simple; planning is a synonym for "collectivism" and "collectivism" is a metaphor for Communism.Rand's literary style is easy to read and understand, I love how she uses the third person plural in the book until the hero finds his "ego" at which time she switches over to first person singular.This is a book that should be read by all who wonder what role the government should have in our lives.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in political philosophy.
... Read more

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The never-before published lectures of Nathaniel Branden on Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. These are the lectures that systematized Rand's views for the first time and made them available to the public. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The "Thomas Paine" of Objectivism
Accept no substitutes. This is the original lecture series that spread the "gospel" of Ayn Rand to the masses and by far, the best! Like him or not, Nathaniel Branden's contribution to Objectivism is second to only one -- Ayn Rand. He wields Occam's razor with all the grace and dexterity of a surgeon holding a scalpel. Even if you're not a fan, buy this book anyway. It'll give you a deeper understanding of the philosophy and a greater appreciation for it.

The Vision of Ayn Rand by Nathaniel Branden
As reader of Ayn Rand's and the Objectivist philosophy , I find these NBI lectures invaluable.Written with such clarity and intelligence, Dr. Branden lectures are a refreshing contribution to Objectivism and the interest it continues to have since the first publication of Ayn Rand's classic novel, The Fountainhead.

fascinating for scholars, fans, students and critics alike
With all the news this year about Ayn Rand -- the record-smashing sales of her decades-old novels, her name onTea Party placards, the publication of her collected interviews, and not just one but two mainstream biographies -- perhaps the most exciting is the publication of this book, presenting for the first time in print the lecture series Rand authorized Nathaniel Branden to disseminate to teach her philosophy.

While the two recent Rand biographies describe her from an outside viewpoint -- her place on the American Right and among libertarians worldwide, the popularity of her fiction, and the extreme reactions, positive and negative, she provokes in readers -- neither memoir actually delves into the details and the essence of her philosophical system. Yes, you may know that she stood for "reality, reason, enlightened self-interest and laissez-faire capitalism." But if you don't know what she meant by the "fallacy of the stolen concept," or if you can't explain the meta-ethical "indestructible robot" thought-experiment on which she grounds her argument for the secular objectivity of ethical truths then you do not understand her philosophy. Christopher Hitchens holds that you cannot refute an argument which you have not stated in its own strongest form. Nathaniel Branden says, "One does not know a philosophy if ones knows merely its conclusions, but not the reasoning that led to them." Whether you want to attack or defend or merely learn Ayn Rand's philosophy, this book will provide you with all the essential points upon which to base your judgments and enough concrete examples to make sure your understanding is well grounded.

Yet, for all its value, the book does have its complications. As printed, the work is a faithful transcription of the actual taped lecture series distributed with Rand's express approval as it was in the late 1960's. Unmodified since then, its cultural references are dated. That it is a spoken rather than a strictly scripted lecture is evident from the occasional run-on sentence and awkward or inappropriate word choice. The trade off, though, is that we know that we have an accurate historical document. This is not a bowdlerized text such as we have in so many of Ayn Rand's posthumously published works, like her Journals, in which "nearly every page," says biographer Jennifer Burns, shows "an unacknowledged change" by the editor.

There are criticisms that can be made. As with most early Objectivst works, the book suffers from its overuse of Rand's novels as source material. As one might expect from a raw transcript of spoken lectures it lacks citations and scholarly references. It suffers from a stilted overuse of Objectivist jargon such as "mystics" and "looters." And much of the work overlaps with subsequently published material. There has been a troubling history among supposedly "facts-first" Objectivists of rewriting history and rewriting the essays of former associates of Rand who were at some point expelled from her orbit or that of her heir, Leonard Peikoff. Publication of Branden's lectures shows just how derivative and secondhand is Peikoff's own manual, which was written to supersede it in the catalog once, after the end of their affair, Branden was "permanently repudiated" by Rand. But interest in this work will not at all be limited to historians. There are more than enough tidbits, like Nathaniel Branden's discussion of perceptual form in connection with the validity of sense-perception (expanded at length in David Kelley's Evidence of the Senses), and Barbara Branden's lucid examples of just what does and does not amount to actual thought in her lecture on efficient thinking, to make this book of interest to all readers, no matter what their familiarity with philosophy in general or Objectivism in particular.

As for the format of the book, it consists of a brief dramatic introduction by Barbara Branden which quotes both Rand and the Rand-scholar Chris Matthew Sciabarra as to the work's canonicity. Roger Bissell, who spearheaded the project, and Roger Campbell and Patrecia and Jerry Biggers who helped Bissell transcribe the taped lectures are thanked in a brief acknowledgment. Then the main text of the work fills 527 pages in 20 chapters. This is followed by a revised reprint of Nathaniel Branden's 1984 apologia, "The Benefits and Hazards of the Philosophy of Ayn Rand." The book ends with indices of terms and names comprising 31 pages. The table of contents mirrors the chapter heads (the chapters themselves have no breaks for subsections) as follows:

1. The Role of Philosophy. What is philosophy?--The historical role of reason--The bankruptcy of today's culture--Objectivism--Objectivism vs. subjectivism.
2. What is Reason? The process of abstraction and concept-formation--The subconscious--Reason and emotions.
3. Logic and Mysticism. Identity and causality--The validity of the senses--Reason vs. mysticism.
4. The Concept of God. Is the concept meaningful? --Are the arguments for the existence of God logically defensible? --The destructiveness of the concept of God.
5. Free Will. The meaning and nature of volition--The fallacy of psychological determinism--Free will as the choice to think or not to think.
6. Efficient Thinking. The nature of clear thinking--Pseudo-thinking--The nature of definitions--Common thinking errors. Guest lecture by Barbara Branden
7. Self-Esteem. Why self-esteem is man's deepest psychological need--The consequences of the failure to achieve self-esteem.
8. The Psychology of Dependence. The independent mind vs. the "socialized mind"--Social Metaphysics--The revolt against the responsibility of a volitional consciousness.
9. The Objectivist Ethics. Foundation of the Objectivist ethics--Man's life as the standard of value--Rationality as the foremost virtue--Happiness as the moral goal of life.
10. Reason and Virtue. Independence, honesty, integrity, productiveness--Their relation to survival and mental health.
11. Justice vs. Mercy. The nature of justice--The importance of passing moral judgments--The virtue of pride.
12. The Evil of Self-Sacrifice. The ethics of altruism--Altruism as anti-man and anti-life.
13. Government and the Individual. The principles of a proper political system--Individual rights--Freedom vs. compulsion.
14. The Economics of a Free Society. Basic principles of exchange--Division of labor--The mechanism of a free market--Profits and wealth--"The pyramid of ability."
15. Common Fallacies About Capitalism. Monopolies--depressions--labor unions--inherited wealth.
16. The Psychology of Sex. A person's sexual choices as the expression of his deepest values--Sex and self-esteem.
17. Romanticism, Naturalism and the Novels of Ayn Rand, Part I. Naturalism and fatalism--Romanticism and free will--The literary method of Ayn Rand.
18. Romanticism, Naturalism and the Novels of Ayn Rand, Part II.
19. The Nature of Evil. Why evil is impotent--What makes the "victory" of evil possible--"The sanction of the victim."
20. The Benevolent Sense of Life. Why many human beings repress and drive underground, not the worst within them, but the best--A benevolent vs. malevolent sense of life.

As it stands, this work is one that will have an immediate place in the Objectivist canon. Yet I can't help but express my hope that it undergoes a second edition while Nathaniel Branden is still with us. The visual layout itself is uninspired. Other than paragraph breaks, the chapters have no substructure. The relatively large print and nondescript typesetting remind you of a pamphlet,and make the reading seem more tedious than the fascinating subject matter would suggest. The epilogue, a reprint of what, except for his memoir, is the longest statement of Branden's history with and later opinion of Rand, is oddly out of place. Those who already suspect Branden's motives will not be convinced. Even those who are sympathetic or have no opinion on his break with Rand will find odd such comments as this:

"There are certain difficulties inherent in discussing Rand's philosophy. One is the necessary task of separating her basic ideas from her style of presentation. She could be abrasive; she could make sweeping generalizations that needed explanations that she did not provide; she made very little effort to understand other intellectual contexts and to build bridges from those contexts to hers."

Haven't we just read 527 pages in that very same style by the master's most apt pupil, Branden himself?

In a second edition, one could hope for a remedy to the layout issues. One could hope to find, rather than a co-opted epilogue, a scholarly prologue that comments on the nature of the text, that remarks how it inspired subsequent Objectivist works that copied or expanded upon it, that describes how the lectures changed over the decade they were offered, and, perhaps, that provides some hints of the corrections that Branden's current epilogue suggests are needed. The text could certainly be carefully referenced and annotated, if not by Branden, then by some scholar he trusts, to provide just those bridges to contexts outside Rand's own that would make this work an undeniable part of the academic mainstream.

Until then this book remains a fascinating and invaluable work, one that ranks no lower in interest and value than Rand's own non-fiction. It is of value not just because it presents the Objectivist stand on so many issues, but because it shows the method of thought that results in those stands. For good or bad it documents Branden's central place in the history of Objectivism. It will appeal equally on their own levels to scholars, critics, Rand aficionados and those simply interested in learning about Objectivism. Rand readers will only wish for more.

PS It has come to my attention that the page numbers cited in the indices are apparently too high in all cases.It seems there was a repagination at some point.For example, Will Durant is cited in the index as appearing on pp 32 and 73 while he actually appears on pp 24 and 66.Hopefully this will be corrected, and if possible, a conversion formula provided for those who already have the book.My investigation shows that cited numbers early in the book are too high by about eight pages and by about four towards the end. ... Read more

Product Description
Ayn Rand's first novel, We the Living, offers an early form of the author's nascent philosophy--the philosophy Rand later called Objectivism. Robert Mayhew's collection of entirely new essays brings together pre-eminent scholars of Rand's writing. In part a history of We the Living, from its earliest drafts to the Italian film later based upon it, Mayhew's collection goes on to explore the enduring significance of Rand's first novel as a work both of philosophy and of literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

FASCINATING!
Most recent literary criticism cannot be read for pleasure.It's pretentious, muddle-headed, even corrupt, spouting the poisonous dogma that your mind can't see facts, all it sees is warped by "class, race, and gender."(Then how can they claim that as fact?)

This book is a rare exception.

It's a clear, straightforward, helpful and ultimately fascinating look at Ayn Rand's first masterpiece, written by noted scholars.Here are the partial contents:

From "Airtight" to "We the Living:" The Drafts of Ayn Rand's First Novel, by Shoshana Milgram

Parallel Lives: Models and Inspirations for Characters in "We the Living," by Scott McConnell

"We the Living" and the Rosenbaum Family Letters, by Dina Schein Garmong

Russian Revolutionary Ideology and "We the Living," by John Ridpath

"We the Living" '36 and '59, by Robert Mayhew

"We the Living" and Victor Hugo: Ayn Rand's First Novel and the Novelist She Ranked First, by Shoshana Milgram

"Red Pawn": Ayn Rand's Other Story of Soviet Russia, by Jena Trammell

The Integration of Plot and Theme in "We the Living," by Andrew Bernstein

This book provides fascinating glimpses into Ayn Rand's early development.Don't miss it!

Recommended, With Reservations
Robert Mayhew, a professor of philosophy at Seton Hall University, has edited three collections of essays about Ayn Rand's novels.Prof. Mayhew is associated with The Ayn Rand Institute, which advocates Rand's philosophy (known as "Objectivism") in its most consistent, some would dogmatic, form.

WE THE LIVING ("WTL"), which was published in 1936, was Rand's first novel.Set in post-revolutionary Russia, it is Rand's most autobiographical novel.

This collection contains essays about the writing of WTL, background (in Rand's life and Russian history), its critical reception, its adaptation to film and stage, and philosophical issues raised by the book.The essays concerning the writing of WTL, its reception, and subsequent adaptations are all quite interesting.The philosophical essays don't break much new ground and are of lesser value.

Prof. Mayhew has contributed the most interesting essay, one concerning the changes from the original 1936 edition to the revised edition in 1959.In her introduction to the revised edition, Rand acknowledged making many changes, but claimed that they were only "line-changes."She specifically denied changing the "content."Prof. Mayhew seeks to defend Rand here, but I can't say that his case is persuasive.Some of the changes seem rather important and go to the substance of the book.Prof. Mayhew's defense of Rand is a bit forced and, unless you believe in the perpetual originality of Rand, unnecessary.

With a few reservations, I can recommend this book.
... Read more

Product Description
Ayn Rand is best known as the author of the perennially bestselling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Altogether, more than 12 million copies of the two novels have been sold in the United States. The books have attracted three generations of readers, shaped the foundation of the Libertarian movement, and influenced White House economic policies throughout the Reagan years and beyond. A passionate advocate of laissez-faire capitalism and individual rights, Rand remains a powerful force in the political perceptions of Americans today. Yet twenty-five years after her death, her readers know little about her life.In this seminal biography, Anne C. Heller traces the controversial author s life from her childhood in Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution to her years as a screenwriter in Hollywood, the publication of her blockbuster novels, and the rise and fall of the cult that formed around her in the 1950s and 1960s. Throughout, Heller reveals previously unknown facts about Rand s history and looks at Rand with new research and a fresh perspective.Based on original research in Russia, dozens of interviews with Rand s acquaintances and former acolytes, and previously unexamined archives of tapes and letters, AYN RAND AND THE WORLD SHE MADE is a comprehensive and eye-opening portrait of one of the most significant and improbable figures of the twentieth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Prophetic and prescient
In these essays from the 1960s and early 1970s, Ayn Rand identifies the underlying nihilism of the Left and the destructive student movement of the time. Already back then, she warned of the toxic influence of the left and pointed out that the intellectual battle does not consist of opposing, denouncing or evading, but of exposing and disproving evil ideas and proclaiming a consistent alternative to the left's bankrupt philosophy.

In the essay Apollo and Dionysus, she compares the 1 million people that converged on Cape Kennedy on July 16, 1969 to witness the launch of Apollo 11 with the 300 000 that gathered at Woodstock on August 15 that year. Rand explores these events in the light of Nietzsche's metaphysical principles of reason and emotion as observed in Greek theatre.

Whilst denying that reason and emotion are irreconcilable antagonists, she shows how the media virtually ignored the one event while blowing the significance of the other out of all proportion. On the one hand, decent people were sharing an event of great achievement and on the other, self-indulgent hedonists were behaving like pigs. As she explains so eloquently, it is irrational emotions that drag people down into the mud, and it is reason that lifts us up to the stars.

In the essay The Left: Old And New, Rand predicted that the issue of the environment would be the next big crusade of the Leftists, after Vietnam. In this, as on so many other issues, she was correct and we still have the EnviroNuts with us and they are shriller than ever before with their self-serving fairy tales of global warming/climate change.

The short essay "Political Crimes" looks at the dangerous notion that there could be a distinction between political and non-political criminals. Crime is a violation of the rights of others by force of fraud, thus there is no such thing as a political crime. The essay The Chicken's Homecoming discusses the results of promulgating doctrines like Pragmatism, Logical Positivism and Linguistic Analysis, and how these doctrines disarmed the best and unleashed the nihilists. In this regard, see The Anti-Chomsky Reader, edited by David Horowitz and Peter Collier.

The Age Of Envy is one of the very best essays in this collection. In it, Rand claims that the Age of Reason and the Age of Enlightenment had been followed by ours, the Age of Envy. She takes envy to mean: The hatred of the good for being the good. Here too, she nails down the left, old and new, with keen insight and prescience. She demonstrates how the appeasement of evil has been an undertow of mankind's cultural stream down the ages.

The Comprachicos is the disturbing concludingessay. It warns against the hijacking of the minds of children and students by the leftist, collectivist educational establishment. This is even more true now than it was then: the modern seats of leftism are the universities and the Old Media which Rand exposes throughout the book. See The Professors:The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America by David Horowitz.

To show how right Ayn Rand has been, I highly recommend the following books: The New Thought Police: Inside the Left's Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds and The Death Of Right And Wrong by Tammy Bruce, Intellectual Impostures by Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont, Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left by David Horowitz, Treason by Ann Coulter and Unhinged by Michelle Malkin.

Left Illusions: An Intellectual Odyssey ... Read more

Product Description
Night of January 16th leaves the answers to the mystery of an international magnate's death up to the reader. The play is a gripping drama about the rise and destruction of a brilliant and ruthless man, the suspense never letting up for a moment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Fantastic
The author is a genius, and the logic is excellent. Each character's actions follow their conscious convictions. It is difficult to execute such logic unless the author is ruthless in depicting the actions based on the deep convictions of the characters.
The pedantic nature of the law courts has been subverted for the plot. I doubt whether a lawyer
could write such a compelling drama. Grisham is a pretentious amateur in comparison. The plot is the best feature, based on the logical consequences of the convictions held by the characters. This is definitely a book for anyone interested in Miss Rand's work.

Neglected Classic from Ayn Rand
*As Amazon's scoring system won't allow for nuanced ratings, I'm going to bump the official rating up to 4 stars. But I really can only give this 3.5. Bear this in mind.)

This is one of Rand's earlier published works, and it shows. Her characters are bubbling with life and she doesn't feel the need to preach constantly. It is a success in many ways. Rand, firstly, is a good writer: I felt myself glued to the page, finding myself unable to put the book down. That only happens very rarely. I can only imagine how engaging it would be on stage with a competent production and decent actors. Rand, secondly, is a decent dramatist. The second act, in particular, ends with a real bang. Thirdly, Rand largely succeeds in developing engaging and distinct personalities.

Now to the faults! Firstly, the courtroom procedural is all wrong. I tend to get irritated when a writer does not do her research and depicts a courtroom setting like an amateur. Secondly, her 'heroes' seem like extremely unpleasant people. This seems to be during the stage when Rand was more enamored with Nietzsche than Aristotle (or Kant, however much she might want to deny it). As with many of her other characters, the people here are so stuck up that they make life harder for themselves than it really needs to be. Thirdly, the drama can quickly become melodrama. It alternates between being captivating and droll.

Is it Rand's best work? No. It has its faults. But if you're new to Ayn Rand, this is a great introduction (because one usually either loves Ayn Rand or one hates Ayn Rand; there aren't too many people who fall in-between. Why dive into one of her 700-1100 page novels when you don't really know what you're getting into?). And if you're already a Rand fan, I don't need to tell you to read this. Good read. Recommended.

An extra star for convincing me that Objectivism is silly
I read this play 35 years ago when I was in high school. I remember two things about it. First, there was not a single character in the play who behaved in a remotely believable manner. And second, the philosophy behind the play was completely inane and seemed to have been concocted by someone who had never interacted with people at all. As the title of this review says, the positive aspect is that I never felt the need to waste any more of my time reading Ayn Rand.

An Objectivist court-room thriller
Written in 1933, "Night of January 16th" is one of Ayn Rand's earliest works and in this work her writing style and philosophical ideas are not as well developed as in the works that made her famous, that is "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged". "Night of January 16th" is a court-room thriller with a twist. Rand wrote two endings to this play, one where the defendant is found guilty, and one where the defendant is found not guilty, and a jury made up of audience members decides which is used.

The court case itself centers around Karen Andre, a woman who may have murdered her married lover or who may have merely been trying to stop him from committing suicide, when she was seen fighting with him on a 50th storey balcony. According to the play's introduction, written by Rand, the evidence for and against Andre is meant to be balanced, so that the verdict of the jurors is based on the juror's values rather than any solid evidence. After reading the play, I can't see how anyone could possibly have found Andre guilty and this has nothing to do with my values at all. Andre is clearly meant to embody Rand's philosophy and in my opinion, all of the evidence is stacked in her favour. However, according to Rand, when this play was performed only about 60% of juries voted for Andre's acquittal. Go figure.

This is not Rand's greatest work. If you are new to Ayn Rand, I recommend starting with either "The Fountainhead" or "Atlas Shrugged". However, if you have already read all of Rand's other fiction, this play is worth reading, even if only for the fact that it is a pretty interesting story and the gimmick of the undecided ending is cool.

Note that this play is also available in the omnibus edition: Three Plays, along with Rand's other two plays. People interested in this play may find the omnibus edition to be better value.

The Veridct between individual versus group truth
A trial with two different rulings in the murder by the mistress plays out Ayn Rand's philosophy of individual will and celebration of the person over "group think". While Anthem was more a manifesto and in-depth than this play, the night of January 16th is worth reading. Written as a play it moves from evidence to perception to judgments. Ultimately it is about what truth you buy ... one person's or the collective. ... Read more

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Do you value freedom? Do you read freedom writers such as Rothbard, Bastiat,von Mises, Hayek, and of course, Ayn Rand? If so you know the arguments forfreedom, the dangers of a socialistic agenda, the evils of a closed society. Nowfor the $64,000 question: Do you have skills to back up your arguments?

• Do you know the best way to get trained?
• Are you certain why might you want to get a concealed carry permit... andwhy you might not!
• Want to know a far better way to celebrate Independence Day than fireworks?(This really makes the left reel with anger!)

Customer Reviews (1)

I want a lot of guns now
I only read this book once, and it was about a month ago, but I sure did read it fast.It was a page turner.I absolutely love guns and gun culture and I think it has a very important place in the american identity.Like the book says, "this is our real Homeland Security".After all the maddenning things we've done as a country in the global village why is it we've never been invaded by a ground military force?Because we've got more guns on our soil per capita than the next three countries combined.The point this book makes though, is that as people become more liberal and "society minded" that we're losing our gun culture, and the next generation is going to be completly inept with a firearm.We think we're familiar with guns because we see them on TV and in the movies all the time but we're just fooling ourselves.
SO if you want to learn a little more about how we can protect our society and make it a little more "polite" give this book a chance. ... Read more

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First printing, 123 pages ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

We Are Lemmings Being Led By the Least of Us
I read this book for a graduate class in political philosophy.

Ayn Rand (1905-1982), in this book written in 1937, expertly refutes collectivists schemes; such as, Communism and Fascism and shows the utter peril that collectivism poses to individual freedom.One of my favorite historians, Lord Acton, warned us in the 19th century "that socialism is slavery."

This is a short novel about a man who escapes a society from which all individuality has been squeezed.Written a full decade before Orwell's "1984" Rand expertly shows how collectivism is destroying individuality and is being practiced throughout the world including the "New Deal" programs in the United States.During this time in world, history people are becoming serfs to the state as F. A. Hayek, the noted libertarian economist would put it.Rand's philosophy is really quite simple; planning is a synonym for "collectivism" and "collectivism" is a metaphor for Communism.Rand's literary style is easy to read and understand, I love how she uses the third person plural in the book until the hero finds his "ego" at which time she switches over to first person singular.This is a book that should be read by all who wonder what role the government should have in our lives.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in political philosophy.
... Read more

Product Description
Once upon a time in the 1970's there was a very funny political book aimed at people who believed that America was still the land of the free. This was before P.J. O'Rourke became a publishing phenomenon. The book was "It Usually Begins with Ayn Rand" by Jerome Tuccille and it was a hoot.

Now, only thirty years later, the long, long awaited sequel is finally available. And in the age of Clinton, we need this book!

A lot has happened since Tuccille left us in the tender clutches of Richard Nixon. Like, we won the Cold War, man! Enjoy the journey as the most iconoclastic libertarian humorist takes us through those missing years.

The high point is the Reagan era, the last best chance to save the free market from the top down. What went wrong is grist for Tuccille's mill. His own brush running for office adds immeasurably to his insights about those in high office. But would this book be the same if Tuccille had actually become Governor of New York on the Libertarian ticket?

A prospect just as likely as the ghostly visitation from Ayn Rand that begins the book.

Anyone who thinks socialism is a scam and that welfare liberals are funny is going to love this book.

Anyone interested in gonzo politics of the Hunter S. Thompson school will enjoy this book.

Anyone who thinks that freedom is a buzzword of the crazed militia right will hate this book.

Plus this is the only account of how libertarians used a naked lady on a horse to get votes! What more do you want? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

It never began with Ayn Rand.
This is a very funny book. But don't kid yourselves, folks - classical liberalism didn't begin with Ayn Rand, it began a very long time ago in Western religious tradition. Since Rand hated religion, she kept (some of)the conclusions and worked backwards to reach her (bad) arguments. Theresult is a sort of bastard philosophy that takes a Marxist/Leninist viewof reality, dresses it up in religious language, and retains theconclusions of the religious traditions Rand rejected. Read John Robbins'Without A Prayer: Ayn Rand And The Close Of Her System to see throughRand's contradictions and learn where it REALLY began.

Brilliant satire...just as funny as It Usually Begins...
Tuccille has done it again.It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand was a hilarious political satire, and the sequel, It Still Begins With Ayn Rand, is every bit as funny and on target as its predecessor.My only regret isthat it took Tuccille 26 years to write the sequel.However, for anyonewho wants a truly original, off-beat history of U.S. politics from 1974through the present day, this is a must read.

Joseph Walsh ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Un libro que todos debemos leer
La rebelión de Atlas permite visualizar a través de esta novela, los vicios de la regulación y la insuficiencia de esta. Es un manifiesto en contra de la colectivización y despersonalización. ... Read more

Product Description
Free download: www.walden3.org. Dr Albert Ellis, world renown psychologist and founder of the cognitive branch of psychology, diagnosed and debunked Ayn Rand as a manic depressive whose philosophy is clearly dysfunctional. Pleaseread his book, "AreCapitalism, Objectivism, and Libertarianism Religions?" where he showsthe Utopian and self-defeating essence of her philosophy which she deifies into "good" and "evil". One only has to consider the linchpin phrase, "the invisible hand", to see the occult wishfulness of her and Adam Smith's work. History has constantly shown that markets do not cure anything for they rely on assumed sellers and buyers with infinite time, mobility, resources and acumen to access and research markets and make decisions. Why do you think corporations spend trillions on deceptive ads? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Ellis's surprisingly accurate psychological profile of Ayn Rand
Recent biographies of Ayn Rand have revealed the depths of her hostility, depression, anxiety and unrealistic expectations about life. So it makes sense that she would invent a philosophy that transmits her hostility, anxiety, depression and unrealistic expectations to people who try to follow it, resulting in the emotional distress predictable by cognitive behavioral therapists like Albert Ellis. Ellis inferred much of the truth about Rand and her dysfunctional following ahead of corroborations from other sources.

I have to wonder what Ellis would say now about the apparent resurgence of Rand popularity on the right, given Rand's gaming of the immigration laws to stay in the U.S., abortions, disdain of family life, atheism and her promotion and practice of extramarital sex and adultery. Conservatives always talk about the importance of character, but the dispensation they've given to Rand's makes me wonder if they ignore their own rhetoric when it suits them.

A Thorough Debunking of the Religion of Ayn Rand
I highly recommend this as a most enlightening and entertaining book. My only complaints are that the editing could have been better, and Dr. Ellis maybe should have put his definition of religion in Chapter 1 instead of 6. But his observations confirm what I have observed in reading Rands' works and listening to friends and others who are Objectivists.

Dr. Ellis brilliantly shows that Objectivism "is a clear-cut religious system, in the classical use of this term, involving the kind of beliefs, practices, and ethical values that at least imply (even if they overtly deny) a divine or superhuman power in the universe and that particularly comprise a faith unfounded on fact. I contend that any dogmatic, fanatical, absolutist, anti-empirical, people-condemning creed is religious because there is no factual evidence on which it is based, and its adherents, in zealously sticking to it, strongly state or imply that some higher power or order of the universe demands that their views are right--and that all serious dissenters to their views are for all time wrong...

"Most capitalists are also included here as religious in nature in that they are true believers in the 'invisible hand' of the market, a clearly religious concept, to solve all of the world's problems if the world will just set all the markets free!"

Criticisms that Dr. Ellis had in some way insulted Ayn Rand through this book or treated her views unfairly are completely off-base. In fact, he goes out of his way to give credit where credit is due. But for a self-proclaimed rational person, Ayn Rand created a philosophy that contains a great deal of irrationality and unsupported dogma that needs to be exposed. The great hypersensitivity of Rand and her followers to the least little bit of criticism reminds one of other fanatical religionists who get upset when their sacred cows are criticized. Says Ellis in Chapter 14:

"If Rand really felt insulted by my referring to her novel heroes as 'utterly impossible humans' then she is indeed easy to insult -- and could use several sessions of rational emotive behavior therapy!"

I myself am an atheist, but I take the realistic view that this does not automatically make me immune from irrationality. The utopian Objectivist ideal of complete rational thinking 100% of the time is irrational because it is impossible. Human beings are both rational and emotional and also fallible. To create or stick to a rational philosophy even more than half the time, takes a lot of self-discipline, self-reflection and humility. Paradoxically, in order to make rational decisions a good deal of the time, it requires that one be humble enough to accept the reality of one's very human tendency toward irrationality in order to be vigilant against it. Without that, you condemn people for the specks in their eyes but fail to take the log out of yours and might even end up like Ayn Rand: depressed, smoking cigarettes and wearing a gold, dollar-sign broach.

So bad it's painful to read...
I downloaded this book on a whim after hearing it provided a decent critique of Objectivism and Capitalism (I should have known better, in fact I did know better, but as someone trying to be an intellectual, I try to give everyone a chance).

As I begin reading this book I was amazed at the appallingly terrible writing, unfounded attacks, and lack of any real points as if the author simply transcribed a drunken rant.When I reached page 4 where he attacks reason as being "unscientific", I decided that any book with a claim that stupid probably doesn't deserve my time, but I was really curious to see his "arguments" as to why capitalism and objectivism are religions so I skipped to chapter 6.

Chapter 6 emphasizes equating any belief in absolutes with religion.This of course raises the question as to why Ellis didn't group those religious fundamentalists we call "mathematicians" into his drunken tirade?To see if Ellis was aware of such a contradiction I did a search of the PDF for "math" and to my surprise found this little gem:

"Here Randfalsely notes that two and two make four: and that you are noble for grasping this "fact."She fails to note that two and two, definitionally make four; and that her own mind, apparently, isn't sufficientlynobletoacknowledgethisdefinition."

In my experience only individuals immersed in academia with worthless PhDs are capable of uttering sentences of such stupidity (no exception here to that rule here).At this point, I realized I don't have time to waste on such nonsense and stopped reading.Good luck!

I find objectivism highly objectionable.
I read this book on line - [...]. - and, in my opinion, Ellis is too easy on Rand and her cult.I am not a psychologist or psychiatrist but, in layman's terms, objectivists are nutbars.Ellis's book just lays out the evidence.

I'm an atheist who was raised in a Southern Baptist environment.I have a certain amount of sympathy for religious fundamentalists, as they were brainwashed as children (it didn't work on some of us).But what is the fanatical objectivists excuse?They have none.

IMO, a person is better off being a fundie religionist than an dedicated objectivist.Hell, a person may be better off being a crap-brained scientologist than an objectivist.I have had dealings in person with both objectivists and scientologists and I found the scientologists less annoying.LOL.

Courageous update of a great book
Albert Ellis worked with Nathaniel Branden and learned firsthand of how pernicious Ayn Rand's influence was on people trying to be rational - and more importantly, rational enough to "skew the odds" in favor of a fulfilling and desirable life through a reality principle, reality testing, and a level-tempered approach that acknowledges our humanity. ... Read more

Product Description
Looking Backward 2000-1887, Edward Bellamy, 1887
Flatland, a romance of many dimensions, Edwin Abbott Abbott 1884
Utopia, Thomas More 1516
Gulliver of Mars, Edwin L. Arnold 1905
The Emerald City of Oz, L. Frank Baum 1910
The Time Machine, H. G. (Herbert George) Wells 1898
Anthem, by Ayn Rand 1938
A Voyage to Arcturus, David Lindsay 1920
20000 Leagues Under the Seas, Jules Verne 1870
All Around the Moon, Jules Verne 1870
The Brick Moon, Edward Everett Hale 1869
The Land That Time Forgot, Edgar Rice Burroughs 1918
The Lost Continent, Edgar Rice Burroughs 1915
The Lost Continent, The Story of Atlantis, C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne 1899
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson 1886
Tarzan of the Apes, Edgar Rice Burroughs 1914
... Read more

Product Description
The essays in this collection treat historical, literary, and philosophical topics related to Ayn Rand's Anthem, an anti-utopia fantasy set in the future. The first book-length study on Anthem, this collection covers subjects such as free will, political freedom, and the connection between freedom and individual thought and privacy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Recommended, With Reservations
Robert Mayhew, a professor of philosophy at Seton Hall University, has edited three collections of essays about Ayn Rand's novels.Prof. Mayhew is associated with Leonard Peikoff's Ayn Rand Institute, which advocates Rand's philosophy (known as "Objectivism") in its most consistent, some would say dogmatic, form.

ANTHEM is my favorite work of Rand's fiction.Written after WE THE LIVING, ANTHEM is a "distopyian" novella describing life in a thoroughly egalitarian society in which people have lost even a sense of personal identity.It was first published in England in 1938.Rand produced a revised version in 1946.

This collection contains essays about the writing of ANTHEM, its background, its critical reception, its one adaption for radio, and philosophical issues raised by the book.As with Prof. Mayhew's collection on WE THE LIVING, the essays concerning the writing of the book and its reception are most interesting.In particular, Shoshana Milgram's essays are outstanding.She shows, for example, that it is likely that Orwell read ANTHEM and that it influenced 1984.

This book does display something of a cultic atmosphere.It is beyond annoying that certain authors constantly refer to Rand as "Ayn Rand."There is also the common Objectivist tendency to downplay the Nietzschean elements in Rand's early thought (which even pops up in later works).For example, Prof. Darryl Wright discusses Rand's notes for a never written novel entitled THE HIDDEN STREET.Although Prof. Wright discusses the protagonist Danny Renahan, he fails to tell his reader that this character was modeled after a child kidnapper and multiple murderer, William Hickman.("The best and strongest expression of a real man's psychology I have ever heard" Rand said of this creep.)

With a few reservations, I can recommend this book.

FASCINATING!
Most recent literary criticism cannot be read for pleasure.It's pretentious, muddle-headed, even corrupt, spouting the poisonous dogma that your mind can't see facts, all it sees is warped by "class, race, and gender."(Then how can they claim that as fact?)

This book is a welcome exception.

It's a clear, straightforward, helpful and ultimately fascinating look at Ayn Rand's second masterpiece, written by noted scholars.Here are just some of the contents:

"Anthem" in Manuscript: Finding the Words, by Shoshana Milgram

"Anthem:" '38 and '46, by Robert Mayhew

"Anthem" and "The Individualist Manifesto," by Jeff Britting

"Anthem as a Psychological Fantasy, by Tore Boeckmann

"Anthem" in the Context of Related Literary Works: "We Are Not Like Our Brothers," by Shoshana Milgram

Sacrilege Toward the Individual: The Anti-Pride of Thomas More's "Utopia" and "Anthem"'s Radical Alternative, by John Lewis

"Anthem" and Collectivist Regression into Primitivism, by Andrew Bernstein

This book provides fascinating glimpses into Ayn Rand's great classic.Don't miss it!

Rand Scholarship...the way it might be and ought to be
I was impressed by the scholarship of this volume.Each essay was rich with fresh angles, new insights, and interesting asides into Ayn Rand, Anthem, and Rand's philosophy.I also learned a lot from the philosophical essays, particularly Onkar Ghate's essay on free will and determinism, Greg Salmieri's essay on individualism and the concept "I", and Darryl Wright's essay on the psyche in Rand's early thought. Each of these authors makes a number of interesting and illuminating philosophical points that--to my knowledge--have not been addressed anywhere else in the literature.

Overall, highly recommended.
... Read more