Editor | Michael S. Berliner |
---|---|
Author | Ayn Rand |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Publisher | Dutton |
Publication date | 1995 |
Media type | |
Pages | 720 (hardcover) |
ISBN | 0-525-93946-6 (hardcover) |
OCLC | 31412028 |
Letters of Ayn Rand is a book derived from the letters of novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, and published in 1995, 13 years after her death. It was edited by Michael Berliner with the approval of Rand's estate.
The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 5, no. Reply to The Aesthetics Symposium (Spring 2001) Scholarly Engagement: When It Is Pleasurable, and When I t Is Not Louis Torres This is the second of a two-part reply to our Spring 2001 symposium on Ayn Rand’s philosophy of art. There is anot her fac tor to c onsi der in ass es si ng sc hol ars. Ayn Rand Anthem PdfAyn Rand Der Ursprung Pdf Free. Ayn Rand Pdf Ayn Rand Fountainhead Pdf Nazi Party until 1. RSS-Reader; Schreib.
- 5References
Background[edit]
When Rand died in 1982, the materials in her estate included copies of over 2000 letters written by her between 1926 and 1981. Berliner selected 'approximately 35 to 40 percent of the total' for publication.[1] He also edited the letters to remove 'less interesting material', such as opening and closing statements or apologies by Rand for not writing someone sooner after they had written her.[2] Discussing the letters in the context of a later controversy over the editing of Rand's published journals, historian Jennifer Burns affirmed that Berliner had only omitted material rather than changed the content.[3]
The hardcover edition of Letters of Ayn Rand was published by Dutton in 1995. A paperback edition was published by Plume in 1997.
Contents[edit]
The organization of the letters is largely chronological, but specific sections are dedicated to Rand's correspondence with Frank Lloyd Wright, Isabel Paterson and John Hospers. An appendix provides a form letter that Rand sent to many fans of The Fountainhead who had written her. Rand's heir, Leonard Peikoff, provides an introduction.
Reception[edit]
At the time of its release, about a dozen publications reviewed Letters of Ayn Rand, according to the Ayn Rand Institute. The reviews were mixed.[4]
In The New York Times Book Review, Christopher Cox, then a member of the United States House of Representatives, gave the book a positive review. He said Rand's letters were 'an important part of Ayn Rand's intellectual contribution' that are 'filled with flashes of emotional insight, surprising facts and unintended humor.'[5] This was the first positive review of one of Rand's books in The New York Times Book Review since 1943.[4]
Another positive review came from Rand scholar Chris Matthew Sciabarra. Writing in Reason magazine, he predicted that Rand's letters would 'delight and sometimes shock readers', and said 'what is most startling about the collection is how well it humanizes Ayn Rand.'[6]
Liberty magazine editor R.W. Bradford found the book interesting and said it 'allows the reader to see glimpses of the real woman and her development as a thinker and writer.'[7] However, he described Berliner's editing as 'inept'[8] and Peikoff's introduction as 'uninformative'.[9] He said Rand wrote relatively few letters for a significant literary figure, and suggested Berliner held back potentially interesting letters for fear of upsetting Rand's 'self-made myth,' which Bradford considered 'inexcusable'.[8]
In The Washington Post, Jeffrey Frank described the book as 'ultimately tedious'. He said her earlier letters are 'considerably more interesting than the later ones', which include 'an endless amount of whining about various publishers, her detailed responses to editors' suggestions, her hectoring assertions of her beliefs.'[10]
In National Review, Florence King said the 'book reeks of the sycophancy that Miss Rand always inspired' and noted several letters attacking the National Review itself, 'the magazine she loved to hate'.[11]
Objectivist magazines praised the book, with one saying, 'in her letters we learn more of the style of her soul',[12] while another called the book 'the next best thing' to knowing Rand personally.[13]
In a review for the Los Angeles Daily News, Scott Holleran called the book 'a treasure chest' in which 'Rand emerges as a passionate thinker'.[14]
Other reviews included a review by Claudia Roth Pierpont in The New Yorker,[15] and reviews in Booklist,[16]Choice,[17] and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.[18]
Rand scholars writing about the book some years later also expressed mixed opinions. Mimi Reisel Gladstein complimented the 'uncommon variety of letters' included, saying it 'allows the reader access to the many facets of Rand's private and public personae.'[19] However, she noted a mistake regarding Rand's birthday at the beginning of the book, and included it among several posthumous books approved by Rand's estate that 'have not always exhibited a confidence-inspiring level of academic rigor.'[20] Jennifer Burns said scholars can use the material in the book, but indicated the material omitted by Berliner includes items 'of high interest to the historian' so that 'important insights can be gleaned only from the originals.'[3]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Rand 1995, p. xv
- ^Rand 1995, pp. xvi–xvii
- ^ abBurns, Jennifer (2009). Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 291. ISBN978-0-19-532487-7. OCLC313665028.
- ^ abBerliner, Michael S. (2000). 'Ayn Rand in Review'(PDF). Archives Annual. 3: 23. Archived from the original(PDF) on June 22, 2011.
- ^Cox, Christopher (August 6, 1995). 'Behind The Fountainhead'. The New York Times Book Review. p. 9.
- ^Sciabarra, Chris Matthew (November 1995). 'Rand the Living'. Reason. 27 (6): 53.
- ^Bradford 1995, p. 56
- ^ abBradford 1995, p. 54
- ^Bradford 1995, p. 55
- ^Frank, Jeffrey A. (July 9, 1995). 'The Virtues of Selfishness'. The Washington Post. p. WBK4.
- ^King, Florence (October 9, 1995). 'Scud Missives'. National Review.
- ^Heath, Donald (September 1995). 'Correspondence to Reality'. IOS Journal.
- ^Garmong, Dina (September 1995). 'An Intimate View of a Titan'. The Intellectual Activist. 9 (5): 17.
- ^Holleran, Scott (December 17, 1995). 'Rand's Letters Offer Glimpse of Greatness'. Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. – via HighBeam (subscription required)
- ^Pierpont, Claudia Roth (July 24, 1995). 'Twilight of the Goddess'. The New Yorker.
- ^Winters, Dennis (June 1, 1995). 'Review'. Booklist. 91: 1720.(subscription required)
- ^Overmyer, J. (February 1996). 'Review'. Choice. 33: 952.
- ^Real, Jere (August 6, 1995). 'Ayn Rand Stood by Principles'. Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. F4.
- ^Gladstein 1999, p. 88
- ^Gladstein 1999, p. 96
Works cited[edit]
- Bradford, R.W. (September 1995). 'Rand: Behind the Self-Mythology'. Liberty. 9 (1): 51–56.
- Gladstein, Mimi Reisel (1999). The New Ayn Rand Companion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN0-313-30321-5. OCLC40359365.
- Rand, Ayn (1995). Berliner, Michael S (ed.). Letters of Ayn Rand. New York: Dutton. ISBN0-525-93946-6. OCLC31412028.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Letters_of_Ayn_Rand&oldid=930011840'
07:11 pm
I never pictured John Galt wearing a baseball cap, did you?
Far-right ideologue, Ayn Rand wrote of moral absolutism: “There can be no compromise on basic principles. There can be no compromise on moral issues. There can be no compromise on matters of knowledge, of truth, of rational conviction.” Yup, but wouldn’t you know it, Rand, who spent her life deploring the New Deal, Social Security, the Great Society and every other form of government aid to the poor and elderly ended up taking *GASP* government “handouts” herself in the form of Social Security and almost certainly Medicare, too.
From Ayn Rand and the VIP-DIPers:
The Right should be commended politically for their ability to develop and stick to a unified message. But close inspection of this unified message reveals a disappointing secret identified by a student of the Godfather of Neo-conservatism,—- the University of Chicago’s Leo Strauss. The student, Anne Norton (Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire) identified what she called “VIP-DIP” meaning Venerated in Public, Disdained in Private. “Do as I say, not as I do.” The list of vip-dipers on the Right runs from Harold Bloom to Newt Gingrich, but certainly not Ayn Rand. Right?
Say it ain’t so Alisa Zinovievna Rosenbaum.
A heavy smoker who refused to believe that smoking causes cancer brings to mind those today who are equally certain there is no such thing as global warming. Unfortunately, Miss Rand was a fatal victim of lung cancer.
However, it was revealed in the recent 100 Voices: An Oral History of Ayn Rand by Scott McConnell (founder of the media department at the Ayn Rand Institute) that in the end Ayn was a vip-dipper as well. An interview with Evva Pryror, a social worker and consultant to Miss Rand’s law firm of Ernst, Cane, Gitlin and Winick verified that on Miss Rand’s behalf she secured Rand’s Social Security and Medicare payments which Ayn received under the name of Ann O’Connor (husband Frank O’Connor).
As Pryor said, “Doctors cost a lot more money than books earn and she could be totally wiped out” without the aid of these two government programs. Ayn took the bail out even though Ayn “despised government interference and felt that people should and could live independently… She didn’t feel that an individual should take help.”
Although FOI requests have confirmed that Rand got Social Security payments under her married name from December 1974 until her death in 1982, one researcher’s recent FOI request for her Medicare records turned up nothing. Even if true believer Randroids would fail to take Evva Pryror at her word, certain things might be assumed, like an elderly author, even a successful one, being wiped out financially by a catastrophic illness. Lung cancer treatment isn’t cheap—it’s the kind of thing that could put someone out in the street—but Rand, a notoriously heavy cigarette smoker, must’ve been grateful for the virtues of altruism (and the benevolence of her fellow American taxpayers) when presumably no bill came for her cancer treatment in the mid-70s
Does this make Rand no better than the “looters” and “moochers” of the welfare state she decried for her entire career? Not necessarily, but it would make her a hypocrite.
![Biography Biography](/uploads/1/2/6/3/126389619/240792592.jpg)
01.27.2011
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