My Years with Ayn Rand [Paperback]

Nathaniel Branden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 26, 1999

Previous Praise for Nathaniel Branden"Relentlessly revealing. . . the myth of Ayn Rand gives way to a full-sized portrait in contrasting colors, appealing and appalling, potent and paradoxical. . . . it takes a special kind of nerve to write such a book."--Norman Cousins, author of Head First and The Healing Heart

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is one of the most influential books of the twentieth century-its popular impact ranked second only to the Bible in a major poll. Millions know Rand as one of this century's great thinkers, writers, and philosophers, yet much about the private Ayn Rand remains shrouded in mystery.

Who was Ayn Rand?

My Years with Ayn Rand charts the course of the clandestine, tempestuous relationship between the enigmatic author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead and Nathaniel Branden-her young disciple and future pioneer of the self-esteem movement. In this book, discover the real Ayn Rand through the eyes of the man who became her soul mate and shared her passions and philosophical ideals.

Their tragic and tumultuous love story began with a letter written by Branden as an admiring teenage fan and Anded, more than twenty years later, with accusations of betrayal and bitter recriminations. My Years with Ayn Rand paints an unforgettable portrait of Ayn Rand-whose ideas, even today, can generate a maelstrom of controversy.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Ayn Rand's novels and philosophy have been the object of widespread popular interest since the 1950s. After her death in 1982, there was a spate of biographical and critical interest; her popularity continues with a U.S. postage stamp and a television documentary, both scheduled for this spring. These two books offer divergent perspectives on Rand, her followers, and the Objectivist movement. Branden (The Art of Living Consciously, LJ 3/1/97) offers a revised version of his 1989 memoir. A personal account of his intellectual and romantic relationship with Rand and their famous break, it is useful for its insider's view of the Objectivist movement and may appeal to those interested in gossipy details of the protagonists' lives. While objectivity isn't expected in an insider's account, this memoir nonetheless lacks critical distanceAeven after nearly 50 yearsAand is marred by plodding narrative and wooden dialog. Canadian journalist Walker makes a more valuable and original contribution to Rand studies. He analyzes the Objectivist movement, Rand's leadership role, and the politics of her inner circle in terms of the cult dynamic. This analytical perspective avoids the common extremes of hagiography and vilification that mark many accounts of Rand's schismatic movement. Walker also does a credible job of placing Rand's ideas in the context of philosophies that preceded and followed her, and it offers insightful chapters on three of her major followers: Branden, Leonard Peikoff, and Alan Greenspan. His account is well researched and clearly written, though it is sometimes weighed down by an unsynthesized accumulation of detail. A solid contribution to 20th-century intellectual history.AJulia Burch, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Dr. Branden's account of his complex relationship with the literary great . . . allows us a fascinating glimpse into the passions of their lives--intellectual and personal. . . . [It is] not only a memoir of a mythic woman . . . but a chronicle of a stirring intellectual commitment to a political morality that indivudally could only fail." (NAPRA ReView)

"What a story! It's heroic, romantic, deadly, horrifying, tender-and I couldn't put it down." (George Leonard, author of The Transformation and Education and Education and Ecstasy)

"Relentlessly revealing. . . the myth of Ayn Rand gives way to a full-sized portrait in contrasting colors, appealing and appalling, potent and paradoxical. . . . it takes a special kind of nerve to write such a book." (Norman Cousins, author of Head First and The Healing Heart)

"Non-stop theater. All the ingredients are there: conflict, colorful characters, suspense, and a Greek inevitability of tragedy born of hubris. There's a nexus of sex nearly dizzying in its permutations." (Dale Wasserman, playwright and screenwriter, Man of La Mancha and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)

"Branden plots his relationship with Rand from a psychological vantage point, with devastatingly articulate results. . . . A fascinating portrait of Rand and her disciples." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Do you know my greatest reward for 'The Fountainhead?' You." (Ayn Rand to Nathaniel Branden)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (February 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787945137
• ISBN-13: 978-0787945138
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #491,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( R ) > Rand, Ayn

More About the Author

Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D. is a lecturer, a practicing psychotherapist, and the author of twenty books on the psychology of self-esteem, romantic love, and the life and thought of Objectivist philosopher Ayn Rand. His work has been translated into eighteen languages and has sold more than 4 million copies, and includes such titles as Taking Responsibility, The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, and My Years with Ayn Rand. Branden's name has become synonymous with the psychology of self-esteem, a field he pioneered more than thirty years ago.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating story re-told., March 27, 1999

By 

[e-mail] Bryan Register (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Years with Ayn Rand (Paperback)

Readers should note that this book is a revised edition of Branden's 1989 memoir "Judgment Day". While it claims to be 'substantially revised', the revisions are not all *that* substantial. The many stylistic changes do make the book read better, and some less relevant sections have been deservedly excised.

Primarily, the book is altered so that Branden's associates from the period covered by the book are shown in somewhat more positive light. Allan Blumenthal, for instance, is no longer a quite conventional mama's boy; Barbara Branden is less clingy and shows up as a more autonomous individual. Her numerous affairs reported in the first edition are trimmed to a much smaller number.

Surprisingly, Barbara Branden is reported to have developed the concept 'psycho-epistemology', perhaps the key to Rand's aesthetics. This single fact should end any notion that Objectivism is all the ideas that Ayn Rand came up with and nothing else.

Nathaniel Branden is less self-aggrandizing in this edition, and he takes more of the blame for his failed first marriage and the personal disaster for many Objectivists which he helped cause. The portrait of Ayn Rand herself is little changed, which would make us wonder why bother with the second edition until we remember that this is not a biography of Rand but a memoir by Branden.

All in all, the book tells a fascinating story, and tells it rather better and more fairly than the first edition. But the changes, while interesting, are generally not radical and readers of the first edition should bear this in mind before they buy the current version. Those who have not read the first edition should definitely find this book of interest; it tells the very self-conscious story of a man, three women, loves of people, ideas, and their interrelationships, and how a something like a cult is formed and destroyed.

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting autobiograpy/socio-intellectual history., February 22, 1999

By 

Ellen Stuttle (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Years with Ayn Rand (Paperback)

Persons who know the facts of the Objectivist movement's history (facts primarily ignored by the Michael Paxton film) will know that it was Nathaniel Branden who was the prime architect of the movement. Through courses offered by Nathaniel Branden Lectures, later Nathaniel Branden Institute, the philosophy of Objectivism qua philosophy was first taught to the world.

Those familiar with the basic outlines of Nathaniel Branden's eventful life will also know: that he and Ayn Rand met and became friends when he was going on 20 and she was 45; that some years later they began an affair with the consent of their respective spouses; that the dramatic end of their personal and professional relationship in 1968 had explosive effects for the entire Objectivist community.

Branden has previously told the story of his life and relationship with Ayn Rand in the controversial memoir *Judgment Day* (1989). The present memoir is an extensively revised and updated version of the earlier book. Even readers who have read (and reread) *Judgment Day* will be fascinated by the new insights to be gleaned. *My Years with Ayn Rand* is as spellbindingly written as the previous work but it presents a richer, more complete account.

This is a not-to-be-missed by anyone interested in Objectivism -- or simply interested in the engrossing story of some remarkable people.

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where it all began!!, August 26, 2002

By 

Kevin Currie-Knight "Education Grad Student" (Newark, Delaware) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: My Years with Ayn Rand (Paperback)

Right now, there is an Ayn Rand explosion. Not only is Rand slowly gaining steam amongst academic thinkers, she is all over popular culture. There has been two successful fims ('The Passion of Ayn Rand' based on Barbara Branden's biography and the Oscar noiminated 'Ayn Rand: a Sense of Life.') Both the Ayn Rand Institute and the Objectivist Center- think-tanks devoted to Ayn Rand's objectivism- are experiencing huge popularity. Heck, today- Aug. 26, 02- C-SPAN will re-air the Ayn Rand episode of their American Writers series. The viewer request was through the roof. So why, with all her idiosyncratic views, can't we seem to get enough?

This biography goes a long way in answering that question. Nathaniel Branden, Rand's first 'intellectual heir', takes us on his journey with this enigmatic figure, Rand. From when they first met- he as a college student, she as the successful author of the Fountainhead- to thier intellectual partership and ultimately thier misguided affair. The most interesting part of the book, I feel, is the cacophonic break between Branden and Rand, forcing Branden to reevaluate his life and principles.

It would've been easy for Branden, now a successful psychologist, to handle this book badly. It could've wound up being a bitter memoir about what some have called a 'cult'. Or, it could've centered on a philosophical diatribe of Randian thought. Fortunately, it does neither. It is written almost as fiction. The players, even those Branden clearly doesn't like, are treated with respect and empathy. He also writes with remarkable honesty- clearly a sign of a man who's given much time to self-reflection. Yes, there are spots where Branden does get down on Rand. Her philosophy is also touched on, in part. None of this, however, is induldged in to a fault. What we get is the story of a man in a unique, magnanimous, and ultimately life-defining situation. This is one of the few books I've read that I found perfectly enjoyable- emotionally and intelectually- from beginning to end. Also read 'Confessions of a Philosopher" by Bryan Mcgee.