Ayn Rand and the World She Made

By: Anne C. Heller

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Ayn Rand is the author of two phenomenally best-selling ideological novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, which have sold over 12 million copies in the United States alone. Through them, she built a right-wing cult following in the late 1950s and became the guiding light of Libertarianism and of White House economic policy in the 1960s and '70s. Her defenses of radical individualism and of selfishness as a "capitalist virtue" have permanently altered the American cultural landscape.©2009 Anne C. Heller (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This objective account of the Objectivist Rand will interest her still large and devoted readership." ( Publishers Weekly)

Revealing and Inspiring . . .

This biography will be best appreciated by listeners who have read or listened to Ayn Rand's works as referred. Ayn Rand's tough love for humanity is juxtaposed with some of the flaws of her personality and her philosophy, which are seemingly more of a dreamer and a revolutionary than of a thinker and a philosopher. The listeners would say, that Ayn Rand's objectivism is not so objective after all, as she often failed in her life to recognize that humans other than herself and their needs, feelings, thoughts, and rights, are also part the objective world, and that no wonder why Ayn Rand had and still has posthumously followers of more young students than of older and intellectually more sophisticated university professors. Potentially damaging to the idealistic passions of the young and Ayn Rand's beautiful and heroic ideals which are very much needed for the progress of humanity, this book does, nevertheless, help the objective understanding of Ayn Rand as a humanistic and historical phenomenon.

Bravo

Such an interesting read. Simply fascinating! After having read Anthem and of course, Atlas Shrugged, so many years ago, the entire story is revealing, compelling, at times incredibly stiff and prudish but interesting and eventually, sad yet uplifting all at the same time. Bravo! Very well read as well.

Very Interesting

I found this to be very interesting. I have been a fan of Atlas Shrugged and was intrigued to learn about the woman who wrote it. Although I don't believe the same things she did, I found Ayn Rand fascinating. She was a fanatic about her views and I believe Atlas Shrugged and her other novels could only have been written by such a relentless person.

Fascinating biography of an icon of my generation

Would you consider the audio edition of Ayn Rand and the World She Made to be better than the print version?

the audio version brings more life to the story because of the marvelous narration and characterization of Ayn Rand's voice

What did you like best about this story?

the skillful manner in which the faults in Ayn Rand's philosophy are exposed, as the author's reasons as to how Rand's childhood experiences formed her philosophy of rationalism.

What does Bernadette Dunne bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her voice is reminiscent of that of actress Kate Mulgrew (of Captain Janeway fame). Her husky deep female voice, and the unique emotional quality of her narration, is perfect to tell the story of this famous woman. And perfect also in capturing her Russian accent.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I couldn't stop listening. It was compelling, both the writing and narration

Any additional comments?

My first husband was a devotee of Ayn Rand's philosophy and we spent long hours talking about how make it our life philosophy. My husband was completely devoted to these ideas. This occurred at the height of her popularity. I will never forget her impact on our lives. I read all her books. Nevertheless, I had problems accepting certain aspects of her rational beliefs. I will never forget those times and her impact on our lives. This biography is fascinating in the way it presents a very human Ayn Rand and how her charisma convinced so many to worship her.

Good Premises with Contradictions

I wanted to read a comprehensive, candid biography of Ayn Rand so looked at several. When you face a controversial personality like Ayn Rand's there are a few things to consider: I did not want to read a negative critique of Objectivism masquerading as a biography. I did not want to read a hatchet job of the author by someone who doesn't understand her ideas. Neither did I want to read a paean to Rand nor a whitewash of all her negative characteristics. I settled on Anne C. Heller's book because it sounded as though Heller had read Rand's books and enjoyed their ideas but that she had not drunk Objectivist flavored Cool Aid.

On completing the book, it seems to me that Heller admires Rand's ideals while maintaining the objective view that one cannot expect ideals to translate empirically exactly as outlined. I was most interested in Rand's method of plotting and writing her work. Heller does her best to address these issues by quoting from many of Rand's journals, character sketches and outlines for The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and to some extent for We The Living. Although all my questions were not answered, I did get a basic understanding of how the author worked and how she maintained her specific theme focus through two works of unwieldy length.

The most interesting part of the books, though, were Rand's personal interactions and relationships. Her absolute rejection of any idea that is not in complete agreement with her own does not come across in her many television interviews during which she is polite if mildly sarcastic when she encounters challenges. In public it seemed to me she was more often attacked than attacking. In her personal life very much the opposite was apparently true. She had no problem dropping people from her society for simply questioning the absolute certainty of her opinions. As I became more and more interested in the book it was quite easy via Google, YouTube, and my public library to verify Ms. Heller's conclusions.

I enjoyed the book immensely. I found that it addressed the dichotomy at the root of modern conservative thought which prevents conservatives from making any progress toward their own agendas, while attempts to slow the implementation of liberal agendas serve only to strengthen and even empower their counterparts. These problems perhaps started with the rational and objective insights issued to conservatives by Ayn Rand in her seminal works.