Ayn Rand and the World She Made [With Headphones] by Anne C. Heller

Jan 06, 2010

Lynn rated it

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I enjoyed this book. The reader is left to make their own conclusions about what made Ayn Rand tick, or what label could be put on her to explain her odd behavior. It was obvious to me she was a narcissist, but the author only used that term once and she also mentioned Albert Ellis made the same assessment. It is likely her narcissism ended up influencing her philosophy, but I don’t think every Objectivist should automatically be labeled a narcissist. The book would have been better if the a...more

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Aug 02, 2011

Christopher added it · review of another edition

One cannot fake reality-- this is a basic pillar of Objectivist thought. Despite this, I find it amazing how little objective study exists over Ayn Rand's life. Personal memoirs have certainly been published--some oozing spite and others thick with hero-worshiping loyalty. But here, with Anne C. Heller's "Ayn Rand and the World She Made," we have a balanced view of Rand as philosopher, novelist and woman-- an amazing feat considering the fact that the Ayn Rand Institute suspiciously de...more

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Jan 18, 2012

Melanie rated it

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Shelves: biography

As someone who does not like Ayn Rand's work, I went into this with a fairly open mind to gain insight into the how and why of what she believed. This book gives an accurate portrayal of Rand and does not hold a lot of bias in either direction. For that, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Rand's works. Also the book is well written and an easy read often delving into Rand's work for those who have not studied Rand's works.
I enjoyed learning more about Rand as a p...more

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Sep 06, 2011

Kim rated it

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Oh, where to start and where to end. I will say that to approach this book with some perspective, you should read one of her big ones first...Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged or both. It also would help if you took a few minutes to read through the basics of her philosophies.

I can say that I have never encountered someone that I agree with in so many ways yet viscerally disagree with in so many others. Even if you think the author makes too many suppositions or unsupported statements...moreOh, where to start and where to end. I will say that to approach this book with some perspective, you should read one of her big ones first...Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged or both. It also would help if you took a few minutes to read through the basics of her philosophies.

I can say that I have never encountered someone that I agree with in so many ways yet viscerally disagree with in so many others. Even if you think the author makes too many suppositions or unsupported statements, generally, she relates what Ayn Rand herself says and what those close to her readily admit, and I'd say deeply flawed is a practically a compliment. You have to make some allowances for what she must have gone through as a child in revolution Russia, and how she and her family were treated as Jews, but she really lacked balance, perspective, and even if the author had not used the word narcissistic, her behavior, views, and actions speak for themselves and they scream narcissistic personality disorder.

I don't understand the label of intellectual as applied to her. Yes, she thought deep thoughts and constructed a certain perspective of values and ethics, but unless intellectual is synonomous with incapable of functioning as a normal well balanced healthy person while thinking deep thoughts then I just don't get it. And does intellectual mean you view the world through a narrow lense with blinders? I loved the anecdote where she asked why people were so upset with Joseph McCarthy...to blindly support a lying exploitist tyrant like McCarthy is just irresponsible and not particularly smart for someone labeled "one of the greatest minds". And really, the ultimate defender of pure capitalism never had time to learn about the stock market and invest in anything other than a bank savings account?

There should be two words for intellectuals...one for the brilliant but totally loony and disconnected people like Ayn Rand and one that that covers the brainiac who can think and express complex and deep thoughts and still understands that bathing regularly is good and letting cats pee all over your house is gross, and welcomes challenges to their views as ways to strengthen and improve them, rather than to "excommunicate" those who might agree generally but want to explore a slightly different perspective. Maybe there are two words to distinguish but I don't know them.

Whatever you feel or know about Ayn Rand and her philosophies, the book is worth reading if you enjoy reading about interesting people which, she certainly was, and if you want some historical perspective on her influence on much of the contemporary political dialogue.(less)

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Jun 05, 2011

Kushal Srivastava rated it

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Shelves: biography

Ayn Rand’s biography by Anne C. Heller is as neutral a book about Rand as it can get. The author has attempted to present the story of one of the most radical (and insane) authors of the 20th century in as simple terms as was humanly possible. Rand is a fascinating character even though her fiction is not. Either you’re with her or you don’t exist – that is Rand’s philosophy in a nutshell.

Rand lived till her teen years in pre-revolutionary Russia and the soviet Russia. That h...more
Ayn Rand’s biography by Anne C. Heller is as neutral a book about Rand as it can get. The author has attempted to present the story of one of the most radical (and insane) authors of the 20th century in as simple terms as was humanly possible. Rand is a fascinating character even though her fiction is not. Either you’re with her or you don’t exist – that is Rand’s philosophy in a nutshell.

Rand lived till her teen years in pre-revolutionary Russia and the soviet Russia. That had a bearing on her thought process so strong that it was impossible to change after that. The author at numerous places has suggested that Ayn Rand was impossible to beat in an argument and was superhumanly intelligent though this lacks some credibility apart from the observations of her slave gang, her followers. It is not debatable that Rand was fairly intelligent and had a good articulate thought process, but the “winning every argument” thing just doesn’t prove itself. For all I could gather from the book was Rand was an irascible and had a short temper. Her idea of defending an argument especially in later years with that huge fan following was usually “you’re an independent mind, if you agree with me and if you don’t, go back and learn more”. Not only this when a philosophy professor [Sidney Hooks] critiques a book by Rand in New York Times Book Review, Rand’s boyfriend Brendan recommends her followers (a group very innovatively named Nathaniel Brendan Institute or NBI) to send letters to editor and cancel their subscription of the magazine.

Rand sees nothing contradictory in this herd behavior of her cult. For a supporter of Individualism of all things this seems like a lot of hypocrisy. The author tells us that we should not judge Rand on this basis because she did not ask for it. This seems out of place because she is the one who is trying to execute every single person who tries to make an individual choice not in line with her. You have to like not only her books, but her favorite movies, her favorite songs, her favorite artists even her husband’s favorite painters to be called an independent thinker. That is almost as much freedom as Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany will give you. To put it in Rand’s own words “I care for intelligent agreement.” More than agreement it seems she and her closed group of followers were keen on slavery.

Later years Rand just cut off all contact with long lasting friends if they happen to deviate from her set-in-stone philosophy. You bought a book from an author she hates – Goodbye. You saw that communist movie – Goodbye. You don’t agree that one should not save a child in a burning building because being selfish is the ubercoolz- Goodbye.

Following Rand was a religion - and the worst one world has known.
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Jun 05, 2010

Bethany rated it

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I love Ayn Rand's fiction. The first time I ever picked up Atlas Shrugged, I was head over heels in love. Growing up conservative, I had never read anyone who had apologetics for my political beliefs (more or less) without it being a religious thing. Here were these characters who were so black and white, so unquestionably certain of what they believed and it was made so clear why. I often seek out shades of gray, I think it's important for me to keep myself from being too extreme one way or...more

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Mar 10, 2010

Cheryl rated it

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Long text. Well written.

Saying that, it is difficult, at least personally. I had always admired Ayn Rand's books and the objectivist philosophy. I still do. This is a biography describing how Rand's life impacted her writing and her psychology.

As to her books, I want to go back and reread them.

As to her as a person, she is stubborn and mean spirited. She rants about the Soviets, loves America, and believes that all of her followers must abide by all her...moreLong text. Well written.

Saying that, it is difficult, at least personally. I had always admired Ayn Rand's books and the objectivist philosophy. I still do. This is a biography describing how Rand's life impacted her writing and her psychology.

As to her books, I want to go back and reread them.

As to her as a person, she is stubborn and mean spirited. She rants about the Soviets, loves America, and believes that all of her followers must abide by all her opinions without disent. That is very disturbing. In her later years, she regularly casts out friends for even bringing up an opinion. Based upon the book, it is amazing how many people she touched and ruined.

This is definitely not the book for you if you idolize Rand.

She believed in being open to a point. And if she was open, you had to accept it. She decided to have a practical second marriage with her very young protege and demanded the approval of Rand's husband and the protege's wife. It was given. That approval would not be given in return.

I am appalled by how her life deteriorated as she aged. I am appalled that she would throw away important people and demand her followers also ostracize them.

I am confused by how Alan Greenspan was one of her followers, although the main objectivist point calls for a person taking responsibility and striving to get ahead rather than expecting government handouts. I need to reread the Age of Turbulence to see if he mentions her.

I am amazed at how politically involved she was. She supported Senator McCarty during the Communist witch hunts in Hollywood. What you don't hear is how those in power in Hollywood would blacklist those like Rand who spoke out against the Soviets. She also wrote and delivered a speech to Barry Goldwater when he was campaigning for president. She was pro-Nixon.

This is not a light read. Educational? Yes. I have known one person who threw me out of her life because I wouldn't take sides against an ex. People need to grow up.(less)

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Feb 01, 2012

Twiggy rated it

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Notorious for her irreverent credo of egoism and ruthless capitalism, novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand never really opened up about her life as Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum, an “awkward and offbeat” Russian Jewish girl of “startling intelligence.”

Yet Anne Heller, in Ayn Rand and the World She Made, shows that Rand’s adamant egocentricity and profound rebellion against any form of social conscience were deeply rooted in her family’s anguish in early 20th century Russia, a time where J...more

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Apr 29, 2010

Nathan Carlson rated it

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This is an interesting biography, but not historical as I expected. There are a number of anecdotes related from various sources, but they are not always well supported or integrated, and there is a lot of speculation. For example, the author speculates about Rand's psychological makeup without really delving into much detail. She relates some anecdotes about Rand's mother and her "sometimes tyrannical" presence at home, without giving a clear impression of what this means. I was confu...more

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Jul 11, 2010

Nick rated it

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I didn't really know much about Ayn Rand before I read this book. As a libertarian, I had been aware of her for quite some time. I abandoned my attempt through The Fountainhead 10 years ago, or so. When I received this book as a gift I thought it was a good chance to find out what she was all about.
Heller does a great job of painting a portrait of a remarkable, driven, smart, but ultimately frightening woman. To me liberal vs conservative or communist vs capitalist isn't the same as right v...more

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Apr 01, 2010

Douglas Graney rated it

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Since the summer after my junior year at Buffalo State (1984) when I first read Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand has been an intense pleasure to read and teach...even if I had major problems with her philosophy.

Other than watching her two appearences on The Phil Donohue show (1979 and 1980), I didn't have a sense of what she was like. This book filled that gap.

Like many other highly accomplished people, Rand had deep and disturbing flaws.

Anne Conover Heller's book m...more

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Mar 25, 2010

Heather Denkmire rated it

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Typically I don't enjoy biographies. I think part of what made this a good read was that it wasn't strictly linear. Also, the author clearly wasn't an Ayn Rand hater or cult member. She seemed to strike a balance creating a very human portrait while allowing for the possibility that some of Rand's "premises" had validity.

What sums up my position on Ayn Rand's philosophy is this great fact: she used emotional content (literature) to get her only-rational-logic-counts premise...more

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Nov 18, 2009

Matt Howard rated it

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For me, Anthem, Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are three of the best and most important books ever written. The political movement, Libertarianism, that arose under the prodding of Rand's views of politics and philosophy, has been my political home since 1973. This biography makes it clear that we must separate the work from the person. Just as Henry Ford was a half-mad bigot, but established mass production on a moving assembly line as an industrial norm, and Linus Pauling was a brilliant chem...more

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Aug 04, 2011

David Johnston rated it

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True Individualism v.s. Objectivism
(an incomplete review of Ayn Rand and the World She Made)

I just got through reading the new thought provoking and highly readable biography about Ayn Rand by Anne C. Heller, Ayn Rand and the World She Made. An excellent book and a fair one I think. It has cured me from wanting to read or reread Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead. (I vaguely remember reading Atlas Shrugged in my misspent youth). In her own idiosyncratic way Ayn Rand was deeply influenced by Ni...moreTrue Individualism v.s. Objectivism
(an incomplete review of Ayn Rand and the World She Made)

I just got through reading the new thought provoking and highly readable biography about Ayn Rand by Anne C. Heller, Ayn Rand and the World She Made. An excellent book and a fair one I think. It has cured me from wanting to read or reread Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead. (I vaguely remember reading Atlas Shrugged in my misspent youth). In her own idiosyncratic way Ayn Rand was deeply influenced by Nietchze and believed in the power of will and the doctrine of the Superman (or Supergirl in her case). Her saving grace, in my opinion, which prevented her from descending into crankdom, was an appreciation of Aristotle and his logic. She despised Plato and viewed him as being infested with mystical cooties and as being a proto-Communist. She was a narcissist who related to others only as objects to be manipulated and who had meaning only as they reflected her ideas and desires back to herself. (Thus she also despised Kant with his pesky Categorical Imperative and who said “Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end.”) She was the supreme individualist and nonconformist who created a cult of sycophants whose inner circle had to give up their own individualism and conform to her views in every way or be threatened with excommunication and banishment to the outer darkness with anathemas rained down upon their heads.

She described herself as a man worshipper, but she, apparently, was the only man worthy of such an apotheosis. A few exceptional runners-up were her own mythic creations, Howard Roark, the hero in The Fountainhead, Hank Reardon and John Galt in Atlas Shrugged who threatened to stop the motor of the world and, perhaps, Equality 7-2521, the re-discoverer of light, in the dystopic novella, Anthem, which is a retelling of the durable myth of Prometheus. The flesh and blood men she let into her life were submissively effeminate and easily dominated by her, at least. Her husband, Frank O’Connor, appears to have genuinely loved her and always put her perceived needs ahead of his own. He had undoubted talents of his own as a painter, actor and entrepreneur, but was dominated by his strong-willed wife who forced him into cuckold-hood and broke his will and robbed him of whatever remnants of self-worth he might have had and did not notice his slow vanishing act as he disappeared into a bottle. In her eyes he was the perfect wife and her rubber-stamp of a younger lover, Nathaniel Branden, was the perfect mistress. In facebook terms her personal profile status would be described as marriage: open; interested in male/female sycophants and relationship: its complicated. It was complicated indeed. Nathaniel was married and Ayn insisted that they tell O’Connor and Nathaniel’s wife of their planned affair and got their spouse’s stamps of approval for what started out as twice a week trysts. Frank would absent himself for a few hours so the younger man could service the Apostle of Individualism’s body. I am sure it was great and anything but Platonic, but Nathaniel often expressed the wish that his aging paramour would bathe more frequently. He even asked his wife to suggest to the Great Mind that personal hygiene was not a sign of weakness or a concession to conformity; a dangerous thing to do if you wanted to inhabit the world of Ayn Rand. If you agreed with and accepted her views, you were a genius and a moral person, but if you didn’t, you were an idiot and an evil part of the Collective to boot.

The roots of her atheism reached back to her experiences as a Jewish child in pre-revolutionary Russia when it was dangerous to be a Jew. Her mother was observant and her father was a secularist, but went along for the sake of harmony in the family. The Russian Orthodox Church was vehemently and famously anti-Semitic as was the corrupt Russian government at the time. There was a history of frequent pogroms and Jews were second-class citizens who had to live under special laws even in cosmopolitan St. Petersburg (Leningrad after the Bolshevik revolution). In 1905 alone, when Alissa Zinoviena Rosenbaum (Rand's birth name) was almost one year old, 3,000 Jews were murdered in various pogroms fueled by vodka and the religious bigotry of illiterate Russian Orthodox mobs, egged on by the weak czarist government. Her family and friends sacrificed to allow Alyssa to escape the Soviet Union and emigrate to the U.S. She managed to leave during a slender window of opportunity before the Soviets lowered the Iron Curtain with a resounding clang which made her former home a virtual prison. She was the only one of her immediate family able to escape the totalitarian nightmare.

Another reason, I think, for her atheism is that there was room for only one Supreme Being; one I Am, and that was her own Ego (read the end of Anthem to see what I mean). “‘In the pride of your heart you say, “I am a god; I sit on the throne of God in the heart of the seas.” But you are a mere mortal and not a god, though you think you are as wise as God.” Ezekiel 28:2. The God of the Bible is the ultimate rival and iconoclast to our pet idolatries. He has such bourgeois and narrow mind.
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Jul 26, 2011

Susan Berry rated it

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Shelves: writing

The book seemed to start in an objective, impartial manner. As it progressed after the chapter on the publication of Atlas Shrugged, the book seemed to slide into sensationalism without any real substantive analysis of Rand's philosophy that developed after the publication of Atlas Shrugged (NBI and other objectivism efforts). The slide, typical of alot of biographies written in today may be due in part to the closed nature of Rand and her followers that inhibited an objective, indepth analysis...more

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May 13, 2010

Sheila rated it

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What a marvelous horror was Ayn Rand.

A perfect storm of fearsome intelligence and narcissism in the form of a small, dark-eyed, russian/jewish emigree who arrived in America, alone, in 1926 and set out to conquer the dreams denied to her in Communist Russia.

She hammered out her philosophy of Objectivism and created heroes in books that gradually inspired a cult following (literally)that included, among others, former Chairman of The Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan; and...more

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Nov 01, 2011

Jhfrancis01 rated it

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The irony of Ayn Rand is that in espousing a rigid doctrine of selfishness she ended up re-creating the very thought system she railed against - namely -- all is black and white; the self-anointed and self-aggrandized are superior solely because they believe it so not because they possess any truly redemptive qualities; those without wealth or sanctioned creative talent are inferior and thus have no right to live; paranoia is synonymous with faith; manipulation is a substitute for love; the mand...more

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Sep 24, 2011

Peter Sullivan rated it

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Again, I feel like I am cheating because I listened to this as an audio book but whatever! This was a very interesting book that truly showed how Ayn Rand's philosophy, taken to it's conclusion, is an absolute disaster. I knew from bits and pieces I had heard about Rand's life that she was a hard woman. But this story is so tragic on so many levels. Her lack of ability to truly care for anyone by herself, her destroying almost every relationship she ever had, her brutal treatment of others, ...more

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May 16, 2011

Potomacwill rated it

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"Ayn Rand and the World She Made" by @AnneCHeller is a must-read for everyone who has read Rand or anyone interested in deconstructing the beliefs that drive much of the day's political news.

Such headliners as Sen Rand Paul and Reps. Paul Ryan and John Boehner regard her as the fountainhead of their politics; and in the story of her life one finds a most compelling critique of their views and her ideas.

Her radical rejection altruism, God, and virtually everyt...more

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Aug 01, 2011

LS rated it

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This book reminded me of why I have a personal policy not to read biographies of fictional authors. The first part of the biography was fine and inspirational, but the second half onward, which covered her life after her major successes, was painful to read. It was like one of those textbook examples of "don't turn out this way." Heller must have had nerves of steel to continue writing as things went from bad to worse all the way until the dismal end. The account does include synopsis ...more

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Jun 12, 2011

Derick Bellamy rated it

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If I were any kind of prominent public voice, I wouldn't review this book - out of fear of giving it undeserved publicity. Fortunately I'm not and can talk about it without that fear.

"Ayn Rand and the World She Made" starts with a long list of the writers Anne C. Heller was reading when she was young instead of reading Ayn Rand, explaining that she was "too busy" with these superior writers to do so. This is the first book I've ever read that starts with a declarati...moreIf I were any kind of prominent public voice, I wouldn't review this book - out of fear of giving it undeserved publicity. Fortunately I'm not and can talk about it without that fear.

"Ayn Rand and the World She Made" starts with a long list of the writers Anne C. Heller was reading when she was young instead of reading Ayn Rand, explaining that she was "too busy" with these superior writers to do so. This is the first book I've ever read that starts with a declaration that the author is too good to care about the subject of the book. It only goes down hill from there.

ARATWSM consists primarily of: statements about Rand's ideas that anyone acquainted with Rand's few most popular books would know to be false; passages about Rand's personal life put in the most misleading, patronizing, tabloid-like context possible; negative third-party statements about Ayn Rand, quoted as though they're self-evident fact; positive ones sarcastically patronized. Once in a while the date Ayn Rand did something is provided, but this is infrequent.

At best, Heller gives absolutely no consideration to actually conveying information about Ayn Rand and her ideas. At worst, she purposely supresses it.

This thing cannot legitimately be called a critique or expose of Ayn Rand, let alone a biography. A critique or expose at least attempts to demonstrate a negative assesment. Heller just treats her negative assesment as self-evident and relishes in it, like a house pet basking in the cat nip of Ayn Rand's alleged depravity.

I can't imagine what mader Heller write this. I could understand, and respect the intellectual credibility of, a biographer who was strongly critical of Ayn Rand and her ideas but took them seriously and conveyed them honestly. I can't understand the motivation for writing a book that basically serves to obfuscate and parody its subject, implying that any worthwhile human being wouldn't be interested in it. In Ayn Rand's words, I don't have the stomach required of medical students.

(If you want to learn about Ayn Rand, I recommend starting with her novels, which will tell you more about her, in the form of her ideas and her sense of life, than a biography ever could. To learn about her concrete life, I recommend "Letters of Ayn Rand" and "100 Voices: An Oral History of Ayn Rand".) (less)

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Apr 20, 2011

Chrissy rated it

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A page turning Biography that reads like a novel, this review says it all- "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 collectivis...more

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Oct 23, 2010

Chris rated it

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I have an absurd fantasy about Ayn Rand that involves Rabbi Hillel smacking her upside the head and shouting, "If I am ONLY for myself, then WHAT am I?" That fantasy should let people know what I think of her philosophy. However, despite finding her appalling I will admit to a degree of fascination and this biography has plenty to offer on both counts. I've certainly never read another book that had me stopping every 15 pages or so to say to my husband in outrage, "Do you KNOW wha...moreI have an absurd fantasy about Ayn Rand that involves Rabbi Hillel smacking her upside the head and shouting, "If I am ONLY for myself, then WHAT am I?" That fantasy should let people know what I think of her philosophy. However, despite finding her appalling I will admit to a degree of fascination and this biography has plenty to offer on both counts. I've certainly never read another book that had me stopping every 15 pages or so to say to my husband in outrage, "Do you KNOW what she did?" It also gave me an inkling how someone I find so appalling had such influence. I get the impression it was more through sheer force of her personality than her logic, which ignores what humans are really like.

While trying to avoid "spoiling" the anecdotes that led me to ponder these things, here are some of the questions I was left with:
- Narcissistic personality disorder? Didn't recognize others' needs/feelings, or felt genius was entitled to ignore?
- Essentially stopped emotionally maturing at around the age of four? (I'm not kidding. Could she ever hold a grudge about toys!)
- Did she not recognize the difference between philosophical word games and, you know, actual life, which is messy and all kinds of shades of grey?
- Quite unfair to her mother who supported the family after their business was taken. Idealized her father, who went "on strike." No balance between pragmatism and idealism.
- Since she had lots of help from others, why mythologize self-creation? Or, as a narcissist(?), were others merely tools to use instead of people in their own right?
- Did she not understand that it's fine to have personal taste, which could often be based on...egads... emotion instead of reason? Really, Mozart was pre-musical, but she retained a fondness for what she called the "rinky-dink" music of her childhood, and she didn't see emotion as a factor?
- Did she truly never figure out that people are, and should be, a mix of emotion and reason, equal parts rationalization (it's what gets people through the day) and rationality.

I will finish by saying that I found this book, in all its appalling fascination, a much more enjoyable read than Rand's novels, which Rand fans will likely consider a form of heresy.(less)

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Sep 18, 2010

Kathryn rated it

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This book helped me understand where Ayn Rand was coming from and how/why she came up with her theory of Objectivism. Ayn grew up in Revolutionary Russia, was the only one of her immediate family that was able to emigrate to the US, and made her theory of a perfect world based on her experiences. This book also detailed many of the popular figures of her day that were the inspiration for the characters in her books. I totally disagree with her theories, but found this book most interesting in...more

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Jan 24, 2010

Cwelshhans rated it

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I've read multiple essays on Rand that focus on either her life or her books to the exclusion of the other. This book excellently covers both Rand the person and the meaning and thoughts behind her works. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on Rand, and this book would have been of incredible use to me. I would have liked to see more on the continuing impact of Rand after her death, as well as the use and misuse of her philosophy and works of fiction in the last 25+ years. Aside from that point,...more

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Oct 02, 2011

Maciek rated it

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Shelves: owned-books, own-in-paperback, non-fiction, biography

Who was Ayn Rand?

Irregardless if you agree with her philosophy or not, you cannot deny Rand one fact: she was a phenomenon. Born in Russia, Rand emigrated to the U.S. in 1925, when she was just 21. Seeing the skyline of Manhattan for the very first time in her life, she cried. That skyline emphasized everything she believed in and dedicated her life to: the strenght of man's spirit and will of the gifted individual.

An incredibly driven woman, Rand decided that she will be...moreWho was Ayn Rand?

Irregardless if you agree with her philosophy or not, you cannot deny Rand one fact: she was a phenomenon. Born in Russia, Rand emigrated to the U.S. in 1925, when she was just 21. Seeing the skyline of Manhattan for the very first time in her life, she cried. That skyline emphasized everything she believed in and dedicated her life to: the strenght of man's spirit and will of the gifted individual.

An incredibly driven woman, Rand decided that she will become famous - and did. A self proclaimed non-advocate of Rand's ideas, Anne Heller offers what is probably the most unbiased chronicle of her life.
In a 1991 poll, readers named Rand's most famous work, Atlas Shrugged as the book that influenced them most after the Bible. Another poll, from 1998, has shown that readers named Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead as numbers one and two on a list of the 100 greatest novels of the 20th century, with Rand's two other novels being not far behind. Decades after their first publication her works are still in print, still read, still discussed, still loathed and still loved. Atlas Shrugged is still a bestseller which seems to only gain popularity with age, as politicians , commentators and even judges cite its influence on their lives and name it as one of their favorite novels, if not the favorite.

Heller does a great job at conveying Rand's life and all its twists and turns, writing a book which despite its non-fiction status has almost a page-turning quality of a thriller. The tale of Rand's life, from her Russian uprbringing and the birth of a hatred for the opressive regime, through emigration and adaptation to the U.S. and the freedom it offered, her early work at Hollywood, and her rise to fame and the development of her cult. In a way, Rand was an ideal American - she decided that she'd become famous, and to do so decided to go to the U.S. to pursue her American Dream. There, through almost grotesque turn of luck she met Cecil B. Demille, who hired her as a screenwriter. Through almost inhuman determination she pursued her ambition and passion, which is reflected in her literary creations such as John Galt and Howard Roark. She achieved everything she wanted; to this day her works are read and discussed, and an institute was formed and named in her honor. However, at the same time,she was the embodiment of human tragedy; even though she developed a huge following as years progressed she felt growin solitude and detachment from those around her. She pushed away her husband, and only when he died realized what she had done to him; she died in her apartment in New York in 1982, alone.

Heller takes up the role of a historian; this is not a commentary of Rand's ideas or analysis of them. She wants to know what made the woman tick; how Alisa Rosenbaum became Ayn Rand, and why. Irregardless if you like Rand or not, agree or disagree with her ideas, read or burn her books, she had a fascinating life which is well documented here. Both despised and admired, ridiculed and worshipped, Ayn Rand was and remains a phenomenon and one of America's most influential women. This biography provides an insight into the life of a woman who proclaimed selfishness as a virtue and got away with it.(less)

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Feb 01, 2011

Nancy Sopko is currently reading it · review of another edition

I loved both the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, so I wanted to read more about what made the author of such powerful books tick. Well, I found out. She's narcissistic, self-centered (in the bad way, like not considering her husband's feelings when she decides to have an affair with one of her followers), unhinged, paranoid, and narrow/closed-minded. She's still a great writer, though. This is a very interesting book that looks deeply into the personal life of one of the greatest novelists ...more

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Dec 02, 2010

Jeanne rated it

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This is an expertly researched biography. I was inspired as a young adult reading The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged and Anthem. The author leads us through the foundations and motivation for Rand's novels. Her philosophy and writings were influenced by her early life in Russia. The book chronicles her conflicted private life with severed relationships, amphetamine use and long lasting affair with a man 25 years her junior. It is interesting to note that Alan Greenspan was one of her "in...more

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Jul 19, 2010

April rated it

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I enjoyed reading the book Atlas Shrugged. I've also been in many arguments about Ayn Rand with many people. While I do not agree with her philosophy, I found the story of Atlas Shrugged enjoyable. That being said, after reading the biography of Ayn Rand, her philosophy and attitude made sense. She was born in Russia in a time where there was turbulence and political upheaval. However I found it strange that an advocate for a independent human being and a free thinker actually had a cult fol...more

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Feb 08, 2010

Walter rated it

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Anne Conover Heller writes beautifully, which is what makes this unflinching and fair portrait of a true 20th century iconoclast an enjoyable read. It's Heller's incredible writing that kept me coming back, drawn to snatching every free moment to read more of her prose. In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm not an Ayn Rand fan, and especially so after this book. I did, however, thoroughly enjoy learning much more about her fascinating life as delivered in this excellently rendered biography. ...moreAnne Conover Heller writes beautifully, which is what makes this unflinching and fair portrait of a true 20th century iconoclast an enjoyable read. It's Heller's incredible writing that kept me coming back, drawn to snatching every free moment to read more of her prose. In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm not an Ayn Rand fan, and especially so after this book. I did, however, thoroughly enjoy learning much more about her fascinating life as delivered in this excellently rendered biography.

Ayn Rand was a fascinating person, a not quite self-made woman who became, against all odds, one of the leading novelists of the 20th century and the founder of a school of philosophy (or, honestly, a school of thought and belief system) called Objectivism. Based on the broad popularity of her novels The Fountainhead and especially Atlas Shrugged, she became the guru of a movement, led publicly by a series of proteges. Though the philospher-queen of a dedicated coterie of followers, she also began to stoke and to symbolize the embrace of nationalistic capitalism. Along the way, she lived only partly in reality and often in the fantasy world of the characters that she created, ruled her burgeoning domain autocratically and hypocritically and seems never to have been completely, joyfully happy. It's this ultimate sadness that Heller evokes so deftly, demonstrating comprehensively how the progenitor of the doctrine of selfishness embodied it so thoroughly.

In fairness, I found the first two-thirds of the book far more inspiring and intriguing than the concluding one, in part because this reflects the arc of its subject's life. Success definitely changed Ayn Rand, and in Heller's telling, not in a positive way. For example, in the wake of the publication of the juggernaut that Atlas Shrugged still is, Rand eventually split with almost all of her closest followers, seemingly growing progressively more eccentric and/or paranoid.

In sum, then, I recommend this thoughtfully and impressively conveyed biography highly. It is so compellingly written that, even if you're not an Ayn Rand fan (or, perhaps, especially if you're not one), you will enjoy learning about one of the most unique personalities of the modern era. It will not convert you to Rand's philosophy, but it will help you understand why so many others have been so.(less)

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