Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged is a 1957 philosophical novel written by Ayn Rand, about a group of businessmen who rebel against a stifling, judgemental society. The book was Rand's last work of fiction and is considered her masterwork.The Ayn Rand Institute: [1]

Sales of the novel are steadily increasing 52 years after its release, and there are rumors of a mini-series based on the work. The publisher of the American editions of 'Atlas Shrugged' claims that more than 300,000 copies of the book were sold in the first half of 2009, and it was the 136th on Amazon's best seller list in December 2009. http://www.examiner.com/x-31097-Book-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m12d11-Ayn-Rands-Atlas-Shrugged-selling-in-record-numbers

The novel espouses extreme individualism within an absolutist view. Fans of the book acknowledge its language is confrontational and intolerant, and Brink Lindsey of the Cato Institute said it 'it pushes free-market supporters toward a purist, radical vision that undermines their capacity to get anything done.' [2]

Ayn Rand was born in Russia in 1905. By the age of nine, Rand decided she wanted to write fiction. She was greatly inspired by Victor Hugo. Rand studied philosophy at the University of Petrograd and in 1926 arrived in New York City.

With a visa extension, Rand moved to Hollywood to pursue screenwriting. Her first job in Los Angeles was working as a movie extra, and later found herself as a script reader. By 1932, Rand sold her first screenplay.

She completed her first novel, We the Living, in 1934. In 1935, Rand wrote The Fountainhead, and by 1943, the book became a best seller.The Ayn Rand Institute: A Brief Biography of Ayn Rand

"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."

"Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins." Excerpt from Atlas ShruggedThe Ayn Rand Institute: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

"Why don't you hold to the purpose of your life as clearly and rigidly as you hold to the purpose of your mills?" Excerpt from Atlas ShruggedNoble Soul: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand