I agre that the rant by that fellow was ugly, self serving, and entirely irrational. The author of the book he purports to "review" (LOL!!) actually was an strong admirer of Rand and said so!
Telling me that millions of people hate her with a passion because they felt and feel (and rightly so) that she was attacking their morality (lack of) and their spine (lack of) does not paint new territory for me. It does not invalidate her philosophy (in fact it studiously sidesteps the issue) and it does not explain how even the biographies of those with transparent axes to grind are invariably admiring of her character to a large degree.
Koan..finding some fellow riddled with hate who rants a self serving spew of crap to demonstrate the smallness and meanness of his soul against a corpse he will NEVER GET EVEN WITH does nothing to lend any credibility to your accusations.
Now here are some more brief comments about the book by Heller. How does it support the rant which you posted by that fellow??
Reading Anne Heller on Ayn Rand
That Ayn Rand was a great woman is disputed only by those who wish to destroy her legacy and discard her ideas without the bother of having to refute them. That Rand made some mistakes in her personal life is disputed by no one. Yet Rand led the sort of life that, had she novelized it rather than lived it, her critics would have blasted as unrealistically heroic. She lived through the Russian Revolution, escaped to America, became a world-renowned author in a foreign language, and dramatically impacted the political discourse of the nation. Hers is a life whose facts read as the stuff of legend.
Obviously Rand's greatest personal error was to get into a sexual relationship with the brilliant charlatan Nathaniel Branden, who, with his wife (of the time) Barbara, viciously deceived Rand over a number of years, as recounted by Rand herself in journal entries published in The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics. What is particularly perplexing to me is why Rand agreed to this affair, given that in fiction she endorsed monogamy. In Atlas Shrugged, Dagny Taggart has a romantic relationship with three men over the course of her life, and never do these overlap. While Hank Rearden has an affair with Dagny while he is married, he cuts off sexual relations with his wife when the affair begins, and he acknowledges he should have divorced his wife long before that. In The Fountainhead, Dominique Francon breaks monogamy only so long as she remains a flawed character. Notably, the great heroes of the novels, John Galt and Howard Roark, wait for their women over a span of years. I do not understand Rand's affair, I wish her husband had stood up against it, and obviously it turned out horribly for Rand.
Notably, the first two major biographical works on Rand were by the Brandens, and the popular understanding of her remains colored by their smears.
It is therefore with mixed feelings that I witness the publication of the two new biographies on Rand. On one hand, from what I can tell both biographers are largely fair in their treatment of Rand, and both reveal important historical information about her life. Yet it is clear even given my still-limited familiarity with the books that they manifest significant problems. I have already made some limited criticisms of the introduction of Jennifer Burns's book, Goddess of the Market. Robert Mayhew has written a much more thorough critique.
While I am interested in Rand's biography, I am quite busy with other projects. Yet, though I had put Anne Heller's book Ayn Rand and the World She Made back on the shelf, today I took it down and read a few pages, and I remembered my idea of jotting down some notes as I read along. Now, given that I have the book out and want to read it, I'll proceed with that plan, though slowly.
I'll read the book in fits and starts and record my reactions accordingly. This post, then, will grow over time as I write down notes in the order of the book's presentation. My early questions and criticisms may be answered as I read further along. I may update previous entries as I discover new information or consider additional points. Readers with pertinent information are encouraged to send it to me via email. Perhaps my approach, though disorganized, may at least reveal some important revelations and problems in the book.
Preface
xi. I find it interesting that Heller was introduced to Rand by Suze Orman, who handed Heller a copy of Fransico d'Anconia's "money speech" from Atlas.
xii. Heller writes that Rand "had often presented this long passage [the money speech] to potential new disciples, including Alan Greenspan." Why does she use the term "disciples," which has an obvious religious connotation, rather than "supporter," "student," or "follower?" Already on the second page of the text Heller seems to be planting the dubious notion that Rand was somehow a cult-like figure, a claim cultivated by the Brandens. I'll be interested to see how Heller returns to this theme.
xii. Heller writes that Rand "became the guiding spirit of libertarianism and of White House economic policy in the 1970s and 1980s." I will be interested to see how Heller will treat Rand's frequent and pointed protestations that she was no libertarian, though obviously many libertarians loved her works and continue to value them.
Heller's claim about the "1970s and 1980s" is, at best, imprecise. Nixon served as president until August of 1974, and his policies were the opposite of what Rand endorsed. Gerald Ford was more on board with Rand's agenda. Carter served from 1977 through 1981. What about Reagan, who defined the politics of the 1980s? Rand wrote, "I urge you, as emphatically as I can, not to support the candidacy of Ronald Reagan." Of course Reagan did nominate Greenspan, Rand's "disciple," to the Fed, an institution which Rand opposed. George H. W. Bush, who rounded out the '80s, was an even worse disaster by Rand's standards.
xii. Heller incorrectly refers to "...Libertarian Party founder John Hospers..." The LP was founded by a group of Colorado political activists that included David Nolan, whom I've interviewed on the matter. I notice that Heller correctly notes on page 330 that "Hospers... became the first Libertarian Party candidate for president of the United States in 1972..."
xiii. Heller writes, "'No one helped me, nor did I think it was anyone's duty to help me,' [Rand] wrote in an afterword to Atlas Shrugged. In fact, many people helped her." Yet Heller is taking this quote out of context. In the same afterword, Rand acknowledges Aristotle and her husband. Elsewhere she lavishes praise on those who helped get her books published. The sentence immediately preceding the one that Heller quotes is this: "I had a difficult struggle, earning my living at odd jobs, until I could make a financial success of my writing. No one helped me..." Obviously, then, Rand's claim is that she earned her own living.
xiii. Heller writes, "Rand wanted to be the architect of an American utopia that looked backward to the gilded age of American industrial titans." It is true that Rand legitimately saw late 1800s America as the freest period in history. But she recognized that the area remained tainted by bad philosophical premises as well as various political controls of the economy. She looked forward to a future of liberty and unfettered prosperity. Rand, who lived through the Russian Revolution, obviously knew the meaning of utopia (literally "no place"), and the political ideas she advocated, rooted in the facts of human nature, show little similarity to utopian theories. Certainly she wanted a better world, a freer world. But she saw clearly that no political system can wipe out human error, and she wrote at length about the long and continuous political struggle necessary to achieve an incrementally freer society.
xiii. Helller writes that Rand "was a far shrewder social critic than she was a visionary." Granting that Rand was a superb social critic, I will simply state my disagreement with Heller's unfounded remark about Rand's alleged paucity of vision.
xiii. I find Heller's comparison of Rand to Charles Dickens, in terms them being social critics (though with dramatically different ideologies), interesting.
xiv. Heller writes, "Because I am not an advocate for Rand's ideas, I was denied access to the Ayn Rand Papers at the Ayn Rand Institute [ARi] in Irvine, California, where copies of her unpublished letters and diaries, calendars, photographs, and other documents reside."
Heller's comment here is, at best, incomplete. Burns was granted access to the archives, despite the fact that Burns is "not an advocate for Rand's ideas."
My understanding is that Heller was denied access to select papers, not because of Heller's views of Rand, but because the owners of those papers have decided to give another biographer first crack at them, after which they will become generally available.
I have asked Jeff Britting of ARI to clarify the Institute's handling of Heller's requests, but Britting has not responded to my inquiries. I have just asked Heller to provide details about the matter, and I'll be happy to publish her response. [January 6 Update: Today I received an e-mail from Britting, who explained a bit more about the situation with the archives but said his e-mail is not intended for publication. He pointed me to the archives page and said he'd be publishing more on the matter in the future. I have not heard from Heller at this time.]
xiv. Heller lists the following sources of information for her book:
* Russian government archives, accessed "by a Russian research team"
* "Unpublished tape recordings" presented by ARI
* Taped interviews of Rand by Barbara Branden
* Freedom of Information Act documents
* "Interviews with Rand's friends" recorded by Jeff Walker and Marc Schwalb [January 6 Update: William Scott Scherk claims in the comments that Schwalb did not personally record interviews, but instead purchased recorded interviews from Barbara Branden. Heller writes, "Journalist Jeff Walker and collector Marc Schwalb let me listen to privately recorded interviews with Rand's friends..."]
* "More than fifty interviews" conducted by Heller with people who knew Rand, including Nathaniel Branden
* "Letters to and about Rand" in libraries and archives around the country
More will be posted sporadically.
Labels: Anne Heller, ayn rand
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"Is everyone wrong but you?"
Do you really think it is me buying all those books and writing thousands and thousands of essays praising her philosophy and life?? I assure you it is not me.
Sales of Atlas Shrugged at All-Time Record
March 10, 2008
Irvine, CA--Fifty years after its publication, Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" is selling more than ever, having reached the astounding mark of 185,000 copies sold in 2007.
As noted by Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, "this sales figure is an all-time annual record, far exceeding sales of any year in Ayn Rand's lifetime." "Even more impressive," added Dr. Brook, "is that since its publication in 1957, more than 6 million copies of 'Atlas Shrugged' have been sold."
According to statistics from Penguin Group (USA), the English paperback sales of "Atlas Shrugged" have been climbing steadily through the decades since the novel was first published.
"In the 1980's," pointed out Dr. Brook, "'Atlas Shrugged' sold an average of 77,000 copies a year, increasing to 95,000 in the 1990s, and jumping to 130,000 in the first years of the new century.
"The trend is clear and inescapable. 'Atlas Shrugged' is selling more than ever and tens of millions of individuals in America and across the world are now aware of Ayn Rand's revolutionary ideas."
Media coverage of the 50th anniversary of "Atlas Shrugged" was extensive, with pieces printed in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Times, and Forbes magazine.
The Los Angeles Times called Ayn Rand's message "inspiring" and praised her most important novels, "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead," as "masterpieces of plotting." The article acknowledged that there is "good reason" that her novels continue to sell hundreds of thousands of copies a year and noted that 25 years after Ayn Rand's death "she's still big business and still very much a force."
The New York Times lauded the novel as "One of the most influential business books ever written" and aptly described it as "Ayn Rand's glorification of the right of individuals to live entirely for their own interest."
According to another piece, in Forbes magazine, "A quarter century after her death, and half a century after the publication of 'Atlas Shrugged,' Ayn Rand is back." But according to the historical record of the sales of "Atlas Shrugged," said Dr. Brook, "Ayn Rand never really went away." |
