Ayn Rand’s Fiction
Atlas Shrugged
(1957)
Ayn Rand’s masterpiece. It integrates the basic elements of an entire
philosophy into a highly complex, yet dramatically compelling plot—set in a
nefuture U.S.A. whose economy is collapsing as a result of the mysterious
disappearance of leading innovators and industrialists. The theme is: “the
role of the mind in man’s existence and, as corollary, the demonstration of a
new moral philosophy: the morality of rational self-interest.”
The Fountainhead
(1943)
The story of an innovator—architect Howard Roark—and his battle against the
tradition-worshipping establishment. Its theme: “individualism versus
collectivism, not in politics, but in man’s soul; the psychological
motivations and the basic premises that produce the character of an
individualist or a collectivist.” Ayn Rand presented here for the first
time her projection of the ideal man. Roark’s independence, self-esteem, and
integrity have inspired millions of readers for more than half a century.
Anthem
(1938)
This novelette depicts a world of the future, so collectivized that all
indications of individualism have vanished from the culture.
Anthem’s theme is: the meaning and glory of man’s ego.
We the Living
(1936)
Set in Soviet Russia, this is Ayn Rand’s first and most autobiographical
novel. Its theme is: “the individual against the state, the supreme value of
a human life and the evil of the totalitarian state that claims the right to
sacrifice it.”
The Early Ayn Rand
(1984)
This collection includes the first fiction Ayn Rand ever sold—the
synopsis of an original 1932 screenplay, Red Pawn. It also contains
unpolished, but charming short stories which she wrote in the late 1920s and
early 1930s while she was still learning English, and mature works such as the
stage plays Think Twice and Ideal and scenes cut from
the published edition of The Fountainhead.
Three Plays
Published together for the first time, here are Ayn Rand’s three
compelling stage plays. Written in 1933, and a Broadway success in 1935,
Night of January 16th is presented here in its definitive, final
revised text—a superb dramatic objectification of Ayn Rand’s vision of
human strength and weakness, a play famous for the author’s refusal to
prearrange a dramatized verdict, leaving the solution to the audience. Also
included are two of Rand’s unproduced plays: Think Twice (1939),
a philosophical murder mystery, and Ideal (1934), the author’s
bitter indictment of people’s willingness to betray their highest values,
symbolized by a Hollywood goddess seemingly fleeing the authorities.
Night of January 16th
(1934)
This play is a murder trial abounding in plot twists and original devices. The
play has two different endings available—to reflect the actual verdict of a
jury selected each performance from the audience.
The Simplest Thing In the World
A short story, written and narrated by Ayn Rand, about the functioning of
an artist’s creative process.
The Ayn Rand Reader
Edited by Gary Hull and Leonard Peikoff (1998)
The Ayn Rand Reader combines, for the first time in one
volume, extensive excerpts from all of Ayn Rand’s novels (Atlas
Shrugged, The Fountainhead, We the
Living, and Anthem) and her nonfiction work.
The fiction excerpts present her dramatic, man-glorifying universe. The
nonfiction excerpts explain Objectivism’s fundamental ideas, such as reason,
rational selfishness, and laissez-faire capitalism. For example,
Ayn Rand’s essay “Man’s Rights” is used to explain the foundations of
individual rights and capitalism.
The Ayn Rand Reader is recommended both to readers new to
Ayn Rand and to those already familiar with her work.