It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand : 25th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This edition of It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand contains much of the text that appeared in the original edition—revised and edited to conform to modern style—plus new chapters dealing with events that took place after the book was first published. Some of the new material deals with my campaign for Governor of New York as the Free Libertarian Party candidate, a discussion of events that transpired on the American political scene after that benighted campaign, plus thoughts on my current political and spiritual leanings. The perennial success of It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand has startled no one more than me. Sales started slowly, then began to pick up over the years, until the book became an underground classic that has gained readership over the decades. It should be read as political memoir, a first-hand account of a political movement, mostly fact, but with fictional elements and hyperbole added for effect. A reviewer once said that most memoirs are neither fact nor fiction; they are the truth as the author remembers it.

So it is with It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Jerome Tuccille has authored more than twenty books, including best-selling, highly acclaimed biographies of Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch, Alan Greenspan, and the Hunts of Texas, and several novels. Tuccille’s book, Heretic: Confessions of an ex-Catholic Rebel, was a Barnes & Noble Publisher’s Choice selection. Tuccille is vice president of communications at a major financial services firm. He previously taught at the New School for Social Research in New York City and is a former Free Libertarian candidate for Governor of New York. He is a member of Authors Guild and American Society of Journalists and Authors.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 201 pages
• Publisher: Fox & Wilkes; 25th anniversary edition (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0930073258
• ISBN-13: 978-0930073251
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,481,685 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who is John Galt? And does he have a sense of humor? , September 3, 2007

By	Eric A. Isaacson (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you care about the history of the libertarian movement - and already know the names Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Murray Rothbard, and Karl Hess - then you're apt to find Tuccille's book an absolutely hilarious romp, as I did.

Unless, of course, you're an Objectivist fundamentalist of the sort who wears $-sign cufflinks, drinking Kool-Aid at the Fountainhead in Galt's Gulch while chanting the mantra "A is A." In that case, you just might fail to see the humor as Tuccille skewers your sacred cows.

If none of the foregoing means much to you, then chances are good that Tuccille's book won't either. Tuccille spins a fantastically funny yarn for those who already are intimately familiar with American libertarianism. Those who are not, I'm sorry to say, probably will find little of interest in the book.

Eric Alan Isaacson

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best insider's look at the libertarian movement, January 10, 1999

By A Customer

Jerome Tuccille documents his journey from Ayn Rand to Goldwater to Rothbard -- and back, beyond, and in between. This is a hilarious book if one knows the names and ideas being discussed; a newcomer may want to familiarize himself with names like Murray Rothbard, Karl Hess, Nathaniel & Barbara Branden, Leonard Liggio, Henry Paolucci, and the like before reading this book. Tuccille combines fiction and fact -- with much exaggeration -- to document the young libertarian movement from the mid-fifties to 1971. If the sequel is ever finished, I hope it can match this great book!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Atlas Guffawed, August 12, 2008

By	CaligvlaXXI - See all my reviews

This review is from: It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand (Paperback)

When I was a young man, I devoured all of Ayn Rand's works, and they helped shape the libertarian perspective I have today. When I got my hands on Tuccille's book in hardback years ago, I read it through in one sitting, lauging all the way. I was surprised and delighted to see the book back in print again; it was like running into an old friend one hasn't seen in a long time.