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The New Ayn Rand Companion, Revised and Expanded Edition

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The first edition of this book was published within a couple years of Rand's death, so there is much updating to be done (although that earlier edition did benefit from a preview of Barbara Branden's biography of Rand, then still in progress). In addition to The Passion of Ayn Rand, many of Rand's private journals and letters have now been published, and a number of important secondary sources as well, such as Chris Matthew Sciabarra's full-throttle philosophical and historical study Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical. Almost every work of significance pertaining to Rand is described or at least mentioned, making this volume a reference of first resort for Rand studies.

What's covered here? Let Gladstein answer: "The organization of this Companion follows a logical heuristic: Who? What? and So what? 'Who is Ayn Rand?' is the question answered partly by the brief biographical chapter. The main body of this book, however, responds to the question, 'What has she written?' That is covered in the chapters on her fiction, her nonfiction, and in the compendium of characters. 'So what?' is the question that calls for critical reaction and that is provided in the chapter on criticism."

The author also provides a comprehensive bibliography of works by and about Rand. Even such obscure pieces as David M. Brown's hitherto unheralded survey of "The Critics of Barbara Branden" (published in the May 1988 issue of Liberty magazine) are included.

Gladstein has much that is both positive and on-point to say about Rand's character, her fiction, her nonfiction, and the various critical assessments of her work. She doesn't shy away from negative judgments when such are appropriate, either.

On Rand Herself: "Regardless of what pressures were brought to bear, regardless of how many of those in power told her that she must change her style, regardless of what obstacles she found to 'doing it her way,' Rand remained true to her purposes in writing." "Intellectually, she could best anyone in argument.... Bennett Cerf concurred, 'You can't argue with Ayn Rand. She's so clever at it, she makes a fool out of you.' " Rand's personal shortcomings are mentioned, as well as the troubling circumstances that surrounded the Objectivist Crackup in 1968; but Gladstein does not dwell on such matters. Of course the works cited, the most important of which is The Passion of Ayn Rand, tell the whole story of Ayn Rand's often triumphant, sometimes tragic life.

On Rand's Fiction: "Rand's major literary works follow similar plot patterns. In each, an exceptionally able and individualistic protagonist battles the forces of collectivism and mediocrity that are threatening or have destroyed the nation or the world." "Rand's heroes are tall, straight and strong. As with their feminine counterparts, defiance is a keystone to their characters." "The major theme of Rand's fiction is the primacy of the individual. The unique and precious individual human life is the standard by which good is judged." Mention is also made of such leitmotifs as "recurring whip imagery" and "romanticized rapes" that are "symbolic of the head-on clash of two strong personalities." (Gladstein is quick to add that readers of "raised consciousness about the nature of rape might find this symbolism unpalatable," but neglects to state clearly that the vigorous sexual encounters in Rand's fiction cannot be taken as actual rape-not if the text itself is to be admitted in evidence.) Gladstein's summaries of Rand's stories are uniformly excellent.

On Rand's Nonfiction: "Montaigne, author of the book Essais which created the genre of the essay, defined the essay as 'an attempt,' a brief discussion as opposed to a thesis or dissertation. [The essays of The Virtue of Selfishness] are just that-compressed discussions, forays into their subjects. As such, they are appealing to interested nonacademic or nonspecialist readers as well as to the more serious student of Objectivism." "Rand says capitalism is the only moral politico-economic system in history, a system that has been a great boon to humankind [TDO thinks Gladstein means "mankind" here].... Her purpose [in Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal] is to clearly identify the benefits of capitalism while also exposing the nature of its arch enemy, altruism." "One of Rand's greatest gifts is her ability to cut to the heart of a contemporary event or issue and analyze its philosophical implications." "The specific referencts of [The Objectivist Newsletter] were events of the early sixties. What makes them intellectually satisfying today is that the basic premises Rand uses to criticize government, education, or literature apply now as they did then."

The chapter on "Criticism of Rand's Works" includes a summary of every work about Rand that has been published, and mentions a great many of the critical articles. As you can imagine, the criticism is a very mixed bag, as assessments of Rand run the gamut in tone and objectivity. To her great credit, Gladstein's sensibility in criticizing the criticism is almost infallible. Any palpable blunders in The New Ayn Rand Companion? One or two. In the introduction the author states that Rand "presented herself as representative of her fictional ideal: rational, objective, uncompromising, unswerving. Her followers can find no imperfections. This tends to create a situation in which all who are not fully in accord with Rand are seen as part of the opposition." The gist of the observation is correct, but some qualification should have been made. Elsewhere in the book Gladstein herself documents the growth of more tolerant wings of the Objectivist movement, including the birth of The Institute for Objectivist Studies (now The Objectivist Center) and the publication of David Kelley's Truth and Toleration. (Alas, the Companion went to press just around the time The Daily Objectivist was being founded, so TDO's rapid ascendancy as the premier arbiter of non-orthodox Objectivist thought, displacing Kelley's organization, is not mentioned at all. Hopefully this omission will be rectified in the third edition.)

Another little glitch we could mention appears in the description of Hank Rearden. "Although [Rearden's] feelings for Francisco d'Anconia are strained by Francisco's superficial public image, their friendship grows until Rearden finds out that Francisco had been Dagny's lover." But in fact the great breach in the friendship occurs earlier in the novel, when Rearden realizes that Francisco had had the means to prevent a disaster from befalling Rearden Steel but chose not to prevent it. The discovery of Francisco and Dagny's past romance only increases but does not inaugurate the tension between the two men when they finally next encounter each other in Dagny's apartment. Anyone who has read Atlas Shrugged a million times cover to cover would be familiar with this sequence of events.

However, these points are trivia. Ninety nine point nine nine percent of the time Gladstein is completely accurate, not to mention astonishingly concise given the wealth of information she presents. She acknowledges the assistance of a number of major figures in the Objectivist movement, including Chris Matthew Sciabarra, Nathaniel Branden and Barbara Branden, Peter Saint Andre, Michelle Marder Kamhi and Lou Torres. Anyone with any serious interest in the work of Ayn Rand and its growing influence on our culture should own a copy of The New Ayn Rand Companion.--David M. Brown, Editor, The Daily Objectivist (www.dailyobjectivist.com)

Now in a completely revised, updated, and expanded edition, Mimi Gladstein's The New Ayn Rand Companion continues to be a critically important, essential guide to the life and works of author/philosopher Ayn Rand. Gladstein chronicles and summarizes Rand's writings, presents information about her national and global impact (and the response to it) and provides the most comprehensive bibliography published to date. Gladstein is neither an Ayn Rand enthusiast or detractor and therefore takes a scrupulous, scholarly, methodical, and emotionally neutral approach to her meticulous research as she covers the complete Rand corpus. New materials about Rand's posthumous publications, the latest biographical information, and summaries of books and articles about Rand published since her death have been added to make The New Ayn Rand Companion a "must" for all serious students of her writings.

Scholarly? I think not. I looked up a reference to myself on page 19: and this alleged "scholar" did not trouble to ask herself how a French-Canadian politician born in the 1930s, Maurice Champagne-Gilbert, could have authored a French children's adventure story first published in 1914 ("La vallee mysterieuse," which I translated). (In fact the story was written by Maurice Champagne, 1868-1951.) If she makes a careless mistake like that (which could have been avoided by simply reading the front cover, or opening the book and glancing at the front matter), what other mistakes has she made?

That she relied on the "assistance" of either Nathaniel or Barbara Branden hardly inspires confidence. The Brandens are about as objective about Ayn Rand as Hitler was about the Jews; though fortunately their unscholarly pseudo-histories have been fully exposed in James Valiant's "The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics."

There may be some value in compiling a list of absolutely everything that's been written about an author. But I doubt it ... especially in this case, given that most of Ayn Rand's critics either have an ax to grind, or don't think there's an objective reality.