How Ayn Rand Wielded the Press and Publishing

65 years in the past, prolific creator and thinker Ayn Rand revealed her longest fiction novel, Atlas Shrugged. Her work at all times acquired combined opinions within the press, and this time was no completely different. One overview described prose “ladled from a bottomless vat of molten lead” and “delivered on the piercing, relentless pitch of a shriek” (Evening Star). Regardless of these opinions, the dystopian novel that railed in opposition to authorities and idolized capitalism would develop to change into a conservative favourite.

“Individualism shall be my theme till I die,” Rand stated whereas writing Atlas Shrugged. Rand’s philosophy of promoting individualism over conformity, and her love of capitalism, had been fashioned throughout her childhood in Russia. Her household skilled nice monetary loss after her father’s enterprise was confiscated by the Bolsheviks. This expertise may be seen clearly in her first fiction novel, We the Living, which was revealed in 1936. Along with writing novels, she was additionally a playwright. Her performs, resembling The Unconquered, often included anti-communist and pro-capitalist themes as nicely.

Photograph of a woman with short dark hair speaking into two large microphones. — Hollywood Author Testifies, Oct. 20, 1947. Prints and Pictures Division.

Rand began her writing profession in Hollywood although, and her hatred of communism was by no means extra clearly seen than when she happily testified against her Hollywood colleagues in entrance the U.S. Home Committee on Un-American Actions (generally often known as HUAC). In an interview with the Evening Star she said, “My coming right here will not be a patriotic responsibility, a lot as it’s one thing I wished to do, a part of what I’m attempting to say.”

Rand’s relationship with the press was complicated. All through her profession, she relied on newspapers to promote her books and performs, however the opinions had been typically harsh. A newspaper writer was even featured as one of many primary villains in her novel The Fountainhead. Regardless of vilifying newspaper publishers, when The Fountainhead became a success she labored with illustrator Frank Godwin to create syndicated, illustrated strips from the novel’s story. This serialized model of the story appeared with comedian strips in newspapers each day all through late 1945 and early 1946. They are often present in our Chronicling America* assortment of digitized newspapers via the Detroit Evening Times.

Close up of a cartoon strip, the first panel shows a white man in a collared shirt looking to the right. Writing under the image reads: Then Roark remembered... — “The Fountainhead,” *Detroit Night Instances* (Detroit, MI), December 24, 1945.

Though The Fountainhead was a hit, not all of her works had been so nicely acquired. When her novella Anthem couldn’t discover a writer within the U.S., she turned to the pulp journal Famous Fantastic Mysteries to get it printed in 1953.

Her views turned extra excessive over time. After publishing Atlas Shrugged in 1957, she turned to writing non-fiction to advertise her philosophy known as Objectivism. She even revealed and edited her personal periodicals on the subject, which can be found within the Library’s collections: The Objectivist Newsletter, The Objectivist, and The Ayn Rand Letter.

A plain green cover that reads The Objectivist with three lines down the side and table of contents at the bottom. — Cowl picture, The Objectivist, Vol. 10, No. 4, April 1971.

Regardless of the controversial nature of her writing and views, Rand’s novels and philosophy stay well-liked to at the present time. Her works and life proceed to encourage new publications, new tales within the media, and new criticism.