Ayn Rand for Beginners.

Ayn Rand for Beginners

Andrew Bernstein, author

Owen Brozman, illustrator

For Beginners

62 East Starrs Plain Road, Danbury, CT 06810

9781934389379 $14.99 www.forbeginnersbooks.com

Andrew Bernstein, Ph.D lends blends his expertise in philosophy and teaching in Ayn Rand for Beginners, a straightforward introduction to Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and her extraordinarily popular novels "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged". One of the most highly praised (and simultaneously, thoroughly reviled) authors in the world, Ayn Rand is especially notable to this day for her lifelong efforts to provide a moral defense of laissez-faire capitalism. Capitalism had previously been defended on economic grounds (it provided more overall prosperity than communism or many other economic systems), but not on ethical and moral grounds. Having grown up in bitter poverty cast by the savage shadow of Communism in her native Russia, Ayn Rand set out to illustrate the positive values of "selfishness" (and the harmful consequences of self-sacrifice) through vivid, memorable storytelling. She succeeded brilliantly. Ayn Rand for Beginners presents the basic plots of her great novels, as well as a step-by-step walkthrough of her philosophy of Objectivism (essentially, the concept that truth and morality are determined through objective facts rather than subjective societal or religious beliefs). Simple black-and-white illustrations throughout enhance and drive home key points. A great primer for anyone curious about Ayn Rand and her life's work, especially recommended to college students who have little familiarity with Rand but have just been assigned to study one of her books!

John Burroughs

Reviewer