
Goddess of the Market
Ayn Rand and the American Right
Jennifer Burns(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
1st Edition
Published on 15. September 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-19-983248-4 (ISBN)
Description
Worshipped by her fans, denounced by her enemies, and forever shadowed by controversy and scandal, the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand was a powerful thinker whose views on government and markets shaped the conservative movement from its earliest days. Drawing on unprecedented access to Rand's private papers and the original, unedited versions of Rand's journals, Jennifer Burns offers a groundbreaking reassessment of this key cultural figure, examining her life, her ideas, and her impact on conservative political thought.
Goddess of the Market follows Rand from her childhood in Russia through her meteoric rise from struggling Hollywood screenwriter to bestselling novelist, including the writing of her wildly successful The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Burns highlights the two facets of Rand's work that make her a perennial draw for those on the right: her promotion of capitalism, and her defense of limited government. Both sprang from her early, bitter experience of life under Communism, and became among the most deeply enduring of her messages, attracting a diverse audience of college students and intellectuals, business people and Republican Party activists, libertarians and conservatives. The book also traces the development of Rand's Objectivist philosophy and her relationship with Nathaniel Branden, her closest intellectual partner, with whom she had an explosive falling out in 1968.
One of the Denver Post's Great Reads of 2009
One of Bloomberg News's Top Nonfiction Books of 2009
"Excellent."
--Time magazine
"A terrific book--a serious consideration of Rand's ideas, and her role in the conservative movement of the past three quarters of a century."
--The American Thinker
"A wonderful book: beautifully written, completely balanced, extensively researched. The match between author and subject is so perfect that one might believe that the author was chosen by the gods to write this book. She has sympathy and affection for her subject but treats her as a human being, with no attempt to cover up the foibles."
--Mises Economics Blog
Goddess of the Market follows Rand from her childhood in Russia through her meteoric rise from struggling Hollywood screenwriter to bestselling novelist, including the writing of her wildly successful The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Burns highlights the two facets of Rand's work that make her a perennial draw for those on the right: her promotion of capitalism, and her defense of limited government. Both sprang from her early, bitter experience of life under Communism, and became among the most deeply enduring of her messages, attracting a diverse audience of college students and intellectuals, business people and Republican Party activists, libertarians and conservatives. The book also traces the development of Rand's Objectivist philosophy and her relationship with Nathaniel Branden, her closest intellectual partner, with whom she had an explosive falling out in 1968.
One of the Denver Post's Great Reads of 2009
One of Bloomberg News's Top Nonfiction Books of 2009
"Excellent."
--Time magazine
"A terrific book--a serious consideration of Rand's ideas, and her role in the conservative movement of the past three quarters of a century."
--The American Thinker
"A wonderful book: beautifully written, completely balanced, extensively researched. The match between author and subject is so perfect that one might believe that the author was chosen by the gods to write this book. She has sympathy and affection for her subject but treats her as a human being, with no attempt to cover up the foibles."
--Mises Economics Blog
Reviews / Votes
Burns has crafted a superb biography that traces her influence, places Rand in historical context, avoids both condemnation and hagiography, and undercuts the view, fostered by Rand herself, that she was a self-created genius. * Lewis A. Erenberg, Journal of Historical Biography * a well researched and readable account of Objectivist philosophy, Rand's life and accounts of the sometimes misanthropic personalities if not the philosophy involved. * Martin Jenkins, Chartist * Burns contributes so much to understanding the philosophies behind Rand's literature, libertarian thinking, and the philosophical underpinnings of the American right, that this book is sure to be of interest to many. * John Krueckeberg, Literature & History *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
those interested in biography, Objectivism, conservatism, political history, intellectual history
Illustrations
12 hts
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
659 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-983248-4 (9780199832484)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
01/2010
Oxford University Press Inc
€36.40
Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
10/2009
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€9.99
Available for download

E-Book
10/2009
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€9.99
Available for download
Person
Jennifer Burns is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Virginia. A nationally recognized authority on Rand and conservative thought, she has discussed her work on The Daily Show and Book TV and has been interviewed on numerous radio programs.
Author
Assistant Professor of HistoryAssistant Professor of History, University of Virginia
Content
Introduction ; Part I. The Education of Ayn Rand, 1905-1943 ; Ch. 1. From Russia to Roosevelt ; Ch. 2. Individualists of the World, Unite! ; Ch. 3. A New Credo of Freedom ; Part II. From Novelist to Philosopher, 1944-1957 ; Ch. 4. The Real Root of Evil ; Ch. 5. A Round Universe ; Part III. Who Is John Galt? 1957-1968 ; Ch. 6. Big Sister is Watching You ; Ch. 7. Radicals for Capitalism ; Ch. 8. Love is Exception Making ; Part IV. Legacies ; Ch. 9. It Usually Begins with Ayn Rand ; Epilogue Ayn Rand in American Memory ; Notes ; Essay on Sources ; Bibliography