Character Catalog

Her first novel published in the United States, semi-autobiographical, depicting life under the Soviet regime. Her first literary testimony to her visceral opposition to collectivism.

A short dystopian novella set in a totalitarian society where the word 'I' is forbidden. The first condensed formulation of her individualist philosophy, influenced by Zamyatin and Huxley.

Her landmark novel featuring Howard Roark, a visionary architect who refuses all creative compromise. A bestseller that brought her worldwide fame and laid the foundations of Objectivism.

Rand's masterpiece, a 1,200-page epic novel in which the world's creators and producers 'go on strike' against collectivism. One of the best-selling and most influential books of the 20th century in the United States.

A collection of philosophical essays presenting the synthesis of Objectivism and its program for renewing American intellectual culture.

A collection of essays developing Objectivist ethics, arguing for 'rational selfishness' as a moral foundation. A central philosophical work of her thought.

A philosophical and economic defense of laissez-faire capitalism, with contributions from Alan Greenspan. A manifesto for Rand's radical libertarian vision.

I do not recognize anyone's right to one minute of my life. Nor to any part of my energy. Nor to any achievement of mine. No matter who makes the claim, how large their number or how great their need.

I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

The choice is not self-sacrifice or domination. The choice is independence or dependence. The code of the creator or the code of the second-hander.

The title of this book may evoke the kind of question that I hear occasionally: 'Why do you use the word 'selfishness' to denote virtuous qualities of character, when that word antagonizes so many people to whom the idea is repugnant?'

The most important thing in my book is the portrayal of a positive ideal. Not to show what must be destroyed, but what we want to build.

Ayn Rand's birthplace, where she lived through the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and completed her university studies. Her firsthand experience of the Soviet regime became the foundation of her entire philosophy.

Rand moved here in 1926 and worked as a screenwriter for film studios. It was here that she began writing her first plays and developed her ideas through her immersion in American cultural life.

Rand settled permanently in New York in 1951, in an apartment on East 36th Street that became the hub of her intellectual circle known as 'The Collective.' It was here that she wrote Atlas Shrugged and developed Objectivism.

Rand drew inspiration from the celebrated architect Frank Lloyd Wright when creating the character of Howard Roark in The Fountainhead. She visited his buildings and corresponded with him, though their relationship was an ambiguous one.

Rand testified before the U.S. Congress in 1947 during the HUAC hearings on Communist infiltration in Hollywood. Throughout her life she remained an influential figure in American conservative and libertarian political circles.