Customer Reviews

Who Is Ayn Rand?

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This is a decent enough book, & well worth reading for anyone with an interest in Ayn Rand, even if it's no more than a curiosity about the author of The Fountainhead.

As an historical work, however, this book nearly balances the later books from the Brandens -- The Passion of Ayn Rand, and My Years with Ayn Rand -- which were written after a painfully protracted (and somewhat tawdry & childish) falling-out. Those latter titles, while interesting & occasionally even informative, are dripping with venom, & could have benefitted from the hand of an editor with some (ahem) objectivity.

I have a degree of long-term respect for what Rand attempted to do, & this book reflected the woman who, just before she died, denounced Reaganomics as a travesty, not at all reflecting her ideals. I was tempted to give this only 3 stars as it was written in the "adoring sycophant" mode (particularly Ms. Branden's "biographical study," the tone of which would make a Sun Myung Moon blush), but the Brandens don't entirely bury the history in adoration.

Still, I can't help but wish that the Brandens would, by now, have put aside their feud with the dead Rand & published an overview of Rand & an historical evaluation of her beliefs. They were key insiders during the rise of Objectivism, and, if they could have let the wounds heal, would no doubt have provided an important historical document.

Until some such thorough, balanced work appears, this book is all we have.

This is a tremendous overview to Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism. Nathaniel Branden has particularly skilled ability to explain this very important view of the world.