Customer Reviews

Ayn Rand and the World She Made

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

** "Atlas Shrugged" is Ayn Rand's doomsday novel of heroes, villains, love triangles and politics - set against a backdrop of an American economy in collapse, e.g., gifted innovators disappear, industries merge and close, millions of people are thrown out of work - while the federal government tries to help by issuing "greater good" directives which push the United States closer to socialism.

** Sound familiar?

** So who was Ayn Rand and why is she still relevant today?

** In my view, what's most impressive - and what makes "Ayn Rand and the World She Made" feel like a book that will never go out of print - is author Anne C. Heller's even-handed (and easy-to-read) summaries of Rand's complex ideologies about American individualism, capitalism and democracy - along with synopses of ALL of Rand's books and lectures - explained in ways that are sometimes more lucid than Rand's original works.

** In addition, Ms. Heller's book has a story-telling momentum that's unusual compared to other biographies. With the help of researchers digging through archives in Russia and throughout the United States, the author brings Ayn Rand's childhood and adult years excitingly to life - making more clear to mainstream readers why Rand's experiences were critically important to understanding how her ideas against socialism and collectivism were formed - and how she refined them over time. Ms. Heller further illustrates how Rand integrated these ideas into all of her novels, particularly "The Fountainhead" (1943) and "Atlas Shrugged" (1957) - and how she subsequently became world famous - while carrying a torch of stubborn dismissiveness toward her detractors, all the way to her death in 1982.

** "Ayn Rand and the World She Made" reads more credibly than all previous treatments of Rand's life to date - because author Heller approaches Rand as a critical admirer - and not as a blind-faith fan. Her ability to make Rand's ideas come alive - illustrates her respect and admiration for Rand's intellect. This "closed the sale" for me as a reader - and wipes out criticisms I've read from some of Rand's followers obsessively parsing every word in this book. Even Cliffs Notes versions of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" feel somewhat tainted by being written by authors possessing an over-eager zealotry of her ideas. Not once did I feel Ms. Heller was presenting Rand as being anything more than a tremendously intelligent, charismatic and charming figure - who could also be frighteningly eccentric, petty and cruel.

** Most reviews have been favorable. But while reading a few negative reviews, I detected an undercurrent of resistance to Ms. Heller's work from people, 1) who believe themselves to be more intellectually gifted than Heller to discuss Rand's life and work (hence are perhaps too biased), 2) who are horrified that lurid and less-than-flattering material about Rand's life is included (despite being too compelling to be ignored), 3) who are upset that they weren't contacted for inclusion - or if they were included - that their testimonies weren't published in full, 4) who take issue with the lack of cooperation from the Ayn Rand Institute and Leonard Peikoff, Rand's "intellectual heir," or 5) who hate Rand so much that they feel any book about her should be treated with contempt.

** In my view, these complaints are a by-product of Rand's fans or haters who are dissatisfied about the content and approach of Ms. Heller's book. Had the author included comprehensive interviews from peripheral supporters and detractors - her book would have exceeded the page count of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" combined. (Yet Heller's book is exhaustively researched, with 151-pages of notes and an index.)

** The author's positive summations of Rand's complex ideas - mixed with true tales which reflect poorly on her behavior and treatment of others - proves that Ms. Heller is neither a Rand follower nor a detractor. This obviously irks rabid fans and haters of Ayn Rand alike.

** Ayn Rand's key journal entries and letters have already been published worldwide and/or are available in other venues. There's not much left to be discovered that's earth-shattering. Ms. Heller's success is consolidating Rand's ideas into a marvelously coherent single volume - and finding new, previously untapped sources to construct a more fully formed picture of Rand - that goes beyond what we already know.

** Leonard Peikoff's testimony from the Ayn Rand Institute, while useful had he agreed to cooperate, would have added little that's new - because he himself has already published numerous analyses about Rand's work everywhere. His contributions to Rand's legacy HAVE been noted by Heller. But in fairness, Peikoff's testimony would only be relevant, in my view, to those mainstream readers who would want him to ADD to what Ms. Heller has already satisfactorily provided - about Ayn Rand's final months AFTER she stopped making public appearances - before eventually succumbing to cancer.

** In sum, this book is NOT aimed at Ayn Rand intellectuals, and this is NOT a criticism. (Though I believe they will still enjoy reading every page.) "Ayn Rand and the World She Made" feels aimed at mainstream readers seeking an unbiased, all-in-one-reference of Rand's ideas. I do NOT know Anne C. Heller personally, but I believe she has painted a superb image on an enormous canvas - of a controversial genius of titanic and electrifying importance - that will still feel relevant many years from now.

** If you doubt this, then why are people still talking about Ayn Rand today - nearly 30 years after her death - and more than 50 years after "Atlas Shrugged?"

More than fair.

Listening to this on audiobook while doing various domestic chores was a real treat. Having read *Anthem*, *Atlas*, *The Fountainhead* twice, and a number of Rand's essays, I have always been interested in her philosophy--not so much as an adherent but out of recognition that Rand's philosophical and political perspective merits consideration in its own right and as an ideological reality on the American political landscape.

Heller weaves Rand's unique and impressive life story (horrified as a youngster at the brutality of the Soviet revolution she escapes to America to pursue the improbable dream of being a novelist) with her evolving formal philosophy celebrating the primacy of the individual, the virtue of enlightened selfishness, the inherent moral superiority of capitalism over collectivism, and the rejection of all forms of mysticism in favor of her Objectivist view of the world as real, knowable, and enjoyable by rational men and women of virtue.

The biographical sketch also presents a picture that, while noxious to many of Rand's admirers (see below) does not surprise: Transfixed by her romantic vision of human potential and herself and her work as its embodiment, Rand ultimately coped with the contradictions between her ideal world and reality (her limitations and irrational impulses, the failures of followers to conduct themselves according to her stringent standards of virtue, the inability to find in either husband Frank O'Connor or lover Nathaniel Brandon a genuine exemplar of the Ideal Man) with the self-delusion and blind hysteria to which I fear most hopeless and frustrated romantics eventually devolve. That her inner circle of devotees was routinely purged of dissent and presumed treason through bizarre ritualistic "psychotherapy" sessions and/or public censure as one adjutant after another fell short of Rand's impossible and self-contradictory demands for intellectual and social conformity was the most salient manifestation of this.

But in the end the book is more about Ayn Rand the person than her philosophy. I was nearly brought to tears myself when I read the books final pages, about how Ayn slept and sat by ailing and demented Frank in his final weeks, and then wept for days upon his death. I think most of us would accept death and all its attendant grief and regret as just the final of life's ambiguities, but I cannot help but wonder if this weak and lonely rendition of Ayn Rand in her last three years was not, in a way I imagine she would have bitterly denied, a more "real" version of her.

Ayn Rand was clearly a genius, and in some ways an ideal American in pursuing a singular passion with a dogged determination that would shame most of us "mediocritie." She also at times embodied the very real human tragedy that can result from an impossible interpretation of oneself and the world.


Note on other reviewers' take:

Before writing this I took the time to read the comments of those who gave the book one star. The most compelling was by an acquaintance of Rand who said Heller's particular version of the physical writing of *Atlas Shrugged* was inaccurate. If taken at face value this proves simply that a vast journalistic investigation can include error. It strikes me as peripheral to the overall quality of this impressive work of biography synthesized with philosophical critique (in the literary sense of the word.) One critic lamely argued that Heller at one point said the early Soviets such as Lennon were not anti-Semitic, then later indicated that subsequent Soviet regimes were brutal to Jews, and thus contradicted herself. The critic grossly overestimated his own cleverness in posting this jab about what is, when you examine it, not a contradiction at all.

Other negative reviewers bemoaned Heller's "total lack of understanding of Rand's ideas" or that it "failed to acknowledge the impact" Rand had on her numerous enthusiasts. These accusations are simply false. It is true the book contains no formal exposition of Rand's Objectivist philosophy, but this was not its purpose. Instead Rand's ideas are woven throughout the story as they become progressively relevant to the political and social contexts in which she worked and lived. (People can read John Galt's speech whenever they wish without Heller reciting it verbatim.) Further, Heller fully acknowledged in later chapters that Rand's works attracted an impressive following, such as the jokingly named "collective" which included Alan Greenspan and a survey of American readers which voted *Atlas* and *The Fountainhead* the first and second most influential books read, respectively.

In fact Heller in numerous places noted Ayn Rand's perspicacity (such as her recognition of the inherent corruption and brutality of the Bolshevik revolution when many in the American left still held the new regime in delusional high regard). Heller also defends Rand's legacy against the unreasonably derisive screeds written by hostile reviewers of *Atlas* and *The Fountainhead*. She writes admiringly of Rand's ability to charm audiences with her charisma and entrancing idealism, culminating in her speech at West Point that was only marred by a cavalierly jingoistic response to a question by a Native American cadet regarding the morality of the US government's treatment of native peoples. Heller admits in the beginning of the book that she is no ally of Rand's philosophy but nonetheless goes out of her way to acknowledge all that was worth admiring in this amazing and complex figure.

I fear these dismissive readers (if they read the book at all) of Heller simply cannot tolerate the iconic figure of Ayn Rand being held in anything less than the unrealistic regard in which she held herself.

Anne Heller's work, talent, insight and dedication have resulted in a book I could hardly put down. She has tackled a very complex subject. It's been three days since I finished it and realize that it may take months to digest it. The book is so huge I can only write impressions and thoughts.

The first thing to pop out at me relates to Frank Lloyd Wright. Early on, Rand used him as and ideal whose outsider life and creativity became the model for Howard Roark. After visiting Taliesin she commented that Wright did not pay his assistants, but did she realize that his "Fellowship" was a collectivist operation? Wright's 3rd wife, Olgivanna, who like Rand was a Russian émigré, developed this cult-like following on his behalf. Wright's fellowship engrossed the full lives and careers of its closest followers who designed buildings, planted crops and did construction and maintenance work for their "Fellowship". Fellowship, The: The Untold Story of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Fellowship. He and his lifestyle were the antithesis of Howard Roark.

The next impressions are about Rand's family. What of Frank O'Connor? Was this love? Friendship? Fear? Awe? Inertia? 50's values? The Chicago relatives are not re-imbursed for their help in Rand's resettlement in the US (neither are those left behind in Russia). Is this a cognitive demonstration of selfishness or a representation of Rand, herself, for which she built an elaborate philosophy to justify? What should be made of the sister from Russia whose comparative contentment with her life essentially mocks Rand's life work?

I was surprised at the involvement of Alan Greenspan. I knew his name was associated with Rand, but a lot of people went to the lectures. I didn't know how plugged in he was and how long he stayed with it.

Aside from the above associations which may or may not be micro-issues, I'm digesting the person of Rand herself. First, you have to consider her tremendous accomplishments. She wrote and debated in a second language. She achieved fame as an intellectual totally defying entrenched stereotypes of and expectations for both women and immigrants. She developed her following, not as Olgivanna Wright did through her husband nor economic necessity (the Wrights "needed" their followers, Rand, essentially didn't), but on her own independent power.

There is the issue of the role of her philosophy in her own life. Did she walk her talk? How did selfishness work out for her? The strength she speaks of was not there when she needed it. She behaved worse than most when her romantic world shattered world and health waned. It makes Bertha Krantz's observation about fear a logical explanation for this person who can't seem to handle even small dissent or criticism.

Anne Heller has done a tremendous job with this book. I highly recommend it for anyone with an interest in Ayn Rand.

Ayn Rand died in 1982. For such an important and influential person there has surprisingly been only one full-length biography, that published by Barbara Branden in 1986 entitled The Passion of Ayn Rand. Branden's biography, written by a one-time follower who had a falling out with her, had the strengths and weaknesses inherent in such a work. In addition, it is based mostly on the recollections of Branden and the numerous people she interviewed (including interviews with Rand in the 60s). Branden also did not have access to Rand's papers and so was unable to check her and other recollections with documents.

Anne Heller, in this magnificent new biography, has now written the definitive life of Ayn Rand. Though the Ayn Rand Archives denied her access to Rand's papers and other material, she did have the benefit of the large amount of archival material published after 1986, such as Rand's journals and letters. She also accessed archival material in Russia and other libraries. She interviewed Barbara and Nathaniel Branden at length, as well as other surviving acquaintances of Rand, most whom are quite elderly. She also utilized material produced by Rand partisans at the Ayn Rand Institute (including a forthcoming oral history of Rand entitled 100 Voices). The result is a biography that is "objective" in the best sense of the word.

As Heller shows, Rand slowly began creating her own "world." Rand's subsequent account of her early life (for example claiming that she graduated with "highest honors" in philosophy when her classes were pass/fail) and her supposed struggles to get The Fountainhead published are subject to scrutiny. Rand wasn't the first author to lie about her past, but Rand's using this to create an interior world and a cult to support it is truly stunning. (As Heller notes, while Rand didn't start out wanting a cult, she certainly didn't object to it.) By the time her movement was in full swing, Rand probably didn't know where she ended and the heroes in her books began.

At the same time, Heller's book is not a psychological melodrama. It is mostly a "nuts and bolts" account of Rand's life, with only occasional summaries of Rand's character. She tells the many examples of kindness that Rand displayed as well as her frequent cruelty. Better than anyone before, she captures the "two Rands," even if, at the end, neither Heller nor the reader knows quite what to make of this brilliant and eccentric person. To me the most telling account was that of Rand's secretary Barbara Weiss. Rand, she said, was the most repressed fearful person she had ever met. At the same time Weiss decided to leave after fifteen years of devoted service concluding that Rand did in fact know the harm she was causing other people, including her husband. She was a "killer of people" Weiss said.

Those who believe that Rand's only character flaw was occasionally blowing her top will no doubt find Ayn Rand and the World She Made far from satisfying. Those who are interested in Rand or just want a great story should put this outstanding book on the top of their reading list.

Much of the information in this book has been revealed previously by Barbara Branden and others, but the author's narrative is quite interesting and there is much here that is new and will keep Rand devotees interested.

Rand was a person of great courage, and her achievement cannot be denied, even by those who hate her philosophy. What she accomplished, given the odds resident in her background and the challenges of her immigration to the U.S. is really quite impressive.

This book interests me, beyond the discussion of Rand herself, in the enigmatic and tragic figure of Rand's husband, Frank O'Conner. O'Conner, it turns out, was everything Rand's heroes were not. He was an ordinary man with ordinary and not-so-very-elevated ambitions married to a self-absorbed genius who thought so little of her husband as to abort a child he would like to have had. Interesting, too, is Rand's clear faking of reality, according to her own philosophy and outlook, when she declares that Frank O'Conner is her proof that the great heroes of which she writes really do exist. Frank was not that. Not only did Rand fake this reality but she insisted on mis-representing Frank O'Conner to the world.

One can only admire Frank O'Conner. He must have been an intensely loyal and courageous person with great integrity. It does seem to me as well that much of his life was probably characterized by a sense of duty - a tendency that Rand herself despised.

Rand's story is fascinating and would make a great movie if done well. "The Passion of Ayn Rand," a made for TV film with Helen Mirren and Peter Fonda as Rand and O'Conner, is NOT that film in my opinion.

Ayn Rand died twenty seven years ago, and yet her novels and ideas remain as widely distributed, controversial, and inspiring today as they were when they were first written. Both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged continue to sell hundreds of thousands of copies a year, and when The Modern Library asked readers to name the best books of the 20th Century, all four of Rand's novels ended up in the top ten.

So, who was this Ayn Rand, and how did she go from being a young girl in St. Petersburg, Russia to become a woman who continues to influence political debate in the United States nearly three decades after she died ?

That's the question that Anne C. Heller sets out to answer in Ayn Rand and the World She Made, and she does an excellent job of shedding light on the life and times of a woman who kept much of his personal history private.

While many of the details of Rand's life and career are already familiar to those who know her work, Heller does bring to light many new details regarding Rand's life before she came to the United States, specifically the hellish existence that her family was put through in the years immediately after the Bolshevik Revolution. Rand's father, for example, was a successful pharmacist who saw his business confiscated and his property taken by the state, an action which raised the anger and indignation of the young Alissa Rosenbaum which can be traced to her later writing and her defense of capitalism.

There are other interesting tidbits from Rand's days in Russia that Heller, who spent much time researching archives and interviewing family members in the former Soviet Union, managed to uncover. For example, one of the few close friends she had during those days was Olga Nabokov, the sister of another famed expatriate Russian writer, Vladimir Nabokov and daughter of one of the high-ranking officials in the Russian Provisional Government that was ultimately overthrown in the October 1917 Revolution. Like the Nabokov family, Rand's family fled St. Petersburg in the early days of the Revolution but, instead of fleeing Russia, they returned to St. Petersburg and Rand endured several hellish years under Communist rule. It wasn't until 1926 that Rand was finally able to escape to a new life in America.

Overall, Heller does an excellent job of tracing the life -- the good, the bad, and the sometimes very ugly -- of Rand's life. On some level, it comes across as a sad tale of a woman who, in the beginning, was enthused by the power of ideas and individual liberty who, in the end, closed herself off in the echo chamber that was 1960's-style Objectivism. The consequences, for Rand, for others, and for Objectivism itself were disastrous in more was than one, but Heller does a fabulous job of showing how, and why, this happened. It seems clear, for example, that Rand reacted badly to even the mildest forms of criticism and, with limited exceptions such as Ludwig von Mises and Alan Greenspan, tolerated almost no disagreement on even the most trivial elements of her philosophy.

Much of the last third of the book is spent discussing the legendary affair between Rand and Nathaniel Branden that ultimately led to the end of Objectivism as an organized movement. Without being judgmental, at least not at the start, Heller shows how the Rand-Branden affair began and made it pretty clear that, notwithstanding her marriage, Rand had a deep emotional attachment to a man who was nearly young enough to be her son. The more you learn about that, the more you realize that the real lesson of the break that occurred in 1968 is, quite simply, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Perhaps the saddest figure in Heller's tale, though, is Rand's husband, Frank O'Connor. A modestly successful actor when the two first met in the 1920s, O'Connor quickly put his career, and whatever ambitions he may have had aside in favor of his wife. He was by her side during the most difficult days of writing both of her masterpieces, and, at least on the surface, agreed with her on every essential. All the same, though, it's clear that he never really had a say on the major decisions in their life -- whether it was moving from California back to New York while Atlas Shrugged was being written, or what must have been the bizarre conversation where Rand argued that it was entirely logical for her to cheat on her husband. In later years, O'Connor turned to painting and, apparently, alcohol as life in the Ayn Rand's world became more and more bizarre. One wonders what might have become of him under different circumstances.

The Rand true believers will not like this book, and they will argue that it is incomplete in some respect or another, although it's worth noting that part of that incompleteness can be blamed on the decision by Rand's estate to refuse to give Heller access to Rand's papers as part of her research for the book. But if you're someone who's fascinated by Rand, or just someone who wants to read a good book about an amazing life, this is definitely a book you should pick up.

Like many people who read this biography, I read "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" when I was quite young, and I found them impossible to put down. They were most certainly not "politically correct" back in the 1960's, and they are not "politically correct" today, even though Ayn Rand's audience seems to be growing even now. It is obvious, to everyone, that the Democratic hegemony (2009-2010) was "collectivist" rather than "individualistic." What may not be so obvious is that Ayn Rand helped to define this playing field, in a major way.

Yet, as a person, she always remained something of a cipher to me, and that's why I found this biography so interesting. Rand did NOT like telling people that she grew up during the beginning of Lenin's Red Terror, but her novel "We The Living" did that for her. It is hardly surprising that a refugee from Communist terror in Russia would have a life-long allergy to "collectivism," which in Russia ultimately produced something like 60 million corpses.

She was also intelligent, to a degree which daunted and even scared people. She was full of faults and illogical passions: she hated Beethoven (!) and all German "Romantic" music, and was likely to drop anyone who disagreed with her "logical" position on that. (Vladimir Nabokov detested swimming pools, which strikes me as an equally idiosyncratic hatred.) By the way, there is a connection between Rand and Nabokov. Read this book and find out what it is!

To summarize, she was a deeply flawed woman. But it's about time that we all realized that many creative giants have equally gigantic feet of clay. Beethoven was hardly good company, Wagner was a bit mad, and Ayn Rand was so egotistical that she created a cult around herself. This list could be extended indefinitely: Faulkner the lush, Mailer the self-promoter, etc. In the end, they all go into the grave like everyone else, and we are left with their works of art.

In the case of Ayn Rand, we are mostly left with "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged," both of which have sold many millions of copies. You don't have to be an atheist (like Rand) to appreciate them, and you don't have to be an ultra-rationalist (like Rand), either.

That is to say, you don't have to join the Ayn Rand cult. But, sooner or later, everyone has to deal with her ideas in one way or another.

This is a very good biography, with only minor flaws in it. If you're curious about this woman, you should probably read it!

Even the most hard-core fans of Ayn Rand's writings and political philosophy might feel taken aback at what a strange human being she was. Anne Heller's biography - the first in-depth journalistic study of Rand's life and career ever published (the only other biography was a 1986 memoir by Barbara Branden, one of Rand's followers) - investigates Rand's personal and professional world from her childhood in pre-Soviet Russia and her early years in the Hollywood film industry after fleeing the new Communist regime, to her growing fame (and wealth) after publication of The Fountainhead and then Atlas Shrugged, and her transformation into a cultic figure who, in addition to being revered and idolized by millions of worshipful followers who hung on her every word, was surrounded by an inner circle of completely un-critical acolytes who treated her every word and dictate as divine writ, prioritized her needs and wishes over every other consideration (including their own careers and families), and were severely punished (emotionally, psychologically, and professionally) when they slipped up.

There is no denying Rand's influence in the political and economic sphere. Her stark individualist, small-government philosophy inspired the modern libertarian movement and influenced economic and political leaders from Alan Greenspan to Ronald Reagan. She was also remarkably consistent in her political positions: She spoke out against laws restricting or banning abortion as strongly as she opposed social welfare programs, for example. She condemned the military draft as government infringement on Americans' constitutionally protected right to life and, indeed, opposed first use of military force by the United States in general.

In her personal life, however, the woman who so adamantly defended the absolute primacy of the individual will over the collectivist impulse became the ultimate Stalinist. She demanded total loyalty and obedience from her followers. The consequences of "betraying" Rand (something that could be accomplished with the smallest misstep or mistake) were a lot more painful than not getting your phone calls returned. The no-longer-favored were required to confess their crimes, or be tried in absentia by Rand and her groupies in mock tribunals and when (not if) found guilty were transformed into non-persons cut off completely and permanently from the Rand collective.

Rand was peculiar in other ways, as well. She was married for four decades to a man (Frank O'Connor) whom she dominated and did not love, but who filled an emotional need so central to her being that she was terrified of losing him. In the words of an unnamed acquaintance, Rand "needed him by her side to make her a person, a woman, something." Yet, for 15 years Rand carried on a sexual affair with one of her followers, Nathaniel Branden, a man 25 years her junior. Branden and his wife, Barbara (the two divorced during the course of the affair) were ardent admirers and champions of Rand and her ideas, and among her closest and most trusted friends for almost 20 years - but they, too, became non-persons in the end.

This being the first and only comprehensive biography of Rand, the field was wide open for Anne Heller. She had neither previous achievement to live up to, nor established body of research to rely on. But she had the significant advantage of direct access to former Soviet archives that were not available to Barbara Branden at the time she wrote her memoir/biography. She also interviewed many of Rand's former acolytes, including the Brandens.

It would have been easy to portray Ayn Rand as a monster, but that would have been a far less enlightening book than this one. Rand was a totalitarian personality pushing an individualist philosophy. That seemingly unresolvable contradiction nevertheless was the creative force behind a political and economic movement, the consequences of which continue to resonate. Heller does an admirable job of showing us the whole of Ayn Rand and the world she made.

1. This is a great biography and work of history. Rand was a titan (pun intended). Heller's analysis and depiction of Rand is acute, subtle, and masterfully narrated. Rand remains a substantial figure in 20th century political and cultural history, because of her implacable opposition to collectivism and pity, both of which put her at odds with the controlling cultural forces of her times. But her personal life demonstrates that there are few greater catastrophes that can befall one than to become the spouse or confidante of a titan; she was utterly destructive to those whom she held closest. Her fanaticism kept her focused like a laser throughout her long writing life on her philosophy and her fictional enactments of her philosophy; without this fanaticism, she very likely would have sunk beneath the historical waves. But this fanaticism also burned up many of her human qualities and blinded her from being able to look at herself in any rational or sane way. She was simply a monster (there is no other fair way to characterize it) to her long-supporting and long-suffering husband, Frank O'Connor. The story of Rand's and O'Connor's last years is as harrowing, demoralizing, and painful a picture of old age and decline as one is likely ever to read.

2. The story of Rand's childhood and early adult years in Russia, during and after the cataclysm of the Bolshevik seizure of power, is detailed, well-told, and sheds considerable light on Rand's jaundiced view of governments. She believed all government had an inherent tendency towards thugocracy of one kind or another. She also sensed the fragility of liberty of thought and action, and the ease with which they could be smothered by bureaucracy, whether revolutionary or bland. It was her implacable and brilliant advocacy on these points that constitute her cultural significance. Initially elated at the degree of personal freedom when she arrived in the United States in 1926, she came to believe that too many Americans were willing to sell their freedom and dignity cheap in return for a friendly-faced welfare state based on envy, mediocrity, and the fear of being responsible for onself. Rand's critique remains at the core of the issues which are the subject of titanic struggles today.

3. As a teenager in the mid-1960s, I was put off by the title (and its implications) of her classic, "The Virtue of Selfishness." However, her use of the term "selfish" in the title was a deliberately provocative misnomer. The term as she used it did not mean grasping, miserly, cruel, or any of the other synonyms commonly associated with it, but rather referred to the duty she posited that every human owed himself and humanity: to maintain the integrity and authenticity of one's self at all costs and in all situations. Despite this "scriptural" meaning, however, her life as she lived it, after achieving wealth and notoriety, became increasingly monomaniacal and cruel to those around her; that is, she came to live the common meaning of selfishness. Rand is a classic tragic figure, because her virtues as well her flaws were both epic.

4. Bernadette Dunne's narration of the audio version is perfectly matched to Heller's text. As with all good audio books, one frequently regrets arriving at one's destination so quickly.

This is an excellent biography that goes into great depth explaining Ayn Rand's life and, through frequent citation of her written works, explores the ideas and motivations behind her actions.

Heller is, for lack of a better word, an 'objective' reviewer. She reveals Rand at her greatest and at her worst (which, it turns out, is very human). As Rand would say, Heller "never fakes reality."

If anyone comes out looking bad in this book, it isn't Rand herself but the "Randians" who surround her and become, essentially, a cult. She didn't intend to start a religion, but weaker people - none of whom share any characteristics with the heroes from her book - flocked to her, eager to be told what to do and not just how to think but what to think.

Even in her darkest moments - left by her much younger boyfriend and (perplexingly) baffled as to why, high on drugs, and missing a lung, she is still able to produce some of her greatest work - her speeches to West Point, at Ford Hall, the Donohue show, and her final speech in New Orleans.

Ignore our reviews. Just read the first chapter here online and if that doesn't pull you in, don't buy the book.