Parasites who persistently avoid either purpose or reason perish as they should.” Creative individuals and undeviating purpose and rationality achieve joy and fulfillment. Greenspan wrote: “ ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is a celebration of life and happiness. Greenspan wrote a letter to The New York Times to counter a critic’s comment that “the book was written out of hate.” Mr. Shortly after “Atlas Shrugged” was published in 1957, Mr. She sold several screenplays and intermittently wrote novels that were commercial failures, until 1943, when fans of “The Fountainhead” began a word-of-mouth campaign that helped sales immensely. He offered her a ride to the set, then a job as an extra on the film and later a position as a junior screenwriter. Britting said, to “her moral defense of capitalism.” Greenspan until he began praising drafts of “Atlas,” which she read aloud to her disciples, according to Jeff Britting, the archivist of Ayn Rand’s papers. Greenspan had married a member of Rand’s inner circle, known as the Collective, that met every Saturday night in her New York apartment.

She was already renowned as the author of “The Fountainhead,” a novel about an architect true to his principles. Greenspan met Rand when he was 25 and working as an economic forecaster. One of Rand’s most famous devotees is Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, whose memoir, “The Age of Turbulence,” will be officially released Monday. “It offers something other books don’t: the principles that apply to business and to life in general. Allison, the chief executive of BB&T, one of the largest banks in the United States. “I know from talking to a lot of Fortune 500 C.E.O.’s that ‘Atlas Shrugged’ has had a significant effect on their business decisions, even if they don’t agree with all of Ayn Rand’s ideas,” said John A. When they read the book, often as college students, they now say, it gave form and substance to their inchoate thoughts, showing there is no conflict between private ambition and public benefit. Gore Vidal described its philosophy as “nearly perfect in its immorality.”īut the book attracted a coterie of fans, some of them top corporate executives, who dared not speak of its impact except in private. Her book was dismissed as an homage to greed. The book is “Atlas Shrugged,” Ayn Rand’s glorification of the right of individuals to live entirely for their own interest.įor years, Rand’s message was attacked by intellectuals whom her circle labeled “do-gooders,” who argued that individuals should also work in the service of others. It is still drawing readers it ranks 388th on ’s best-seller list. One of the most influential business books ever written is a 1,200-page novel published 50 years ago, on Oct.

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