The Objectivism Research CD-ROM
(2001)

CD-ROM

The Objectivism Research CD-ROM is the first electronically searchable reference work on Ayn Rand’s writings. Containing the text of her novels and the majority of her nonfiction, the CD-ROM allows readers to scroll through the text and to search for words and phrases. When the software locates a given search term, it lists every book and article that includes that term in the results window, and brings up the complete text of each work with the search term highlighted. The electronic text includes page references to paperback editions. Also, the CD-ROM includes the complete text of Leonard Peikoff’s The Ominous Parallels and Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. By special arrangement with the publisher, for every sale of the CD-ROM originating at ARI’s Web site, ARI will receive a royalty of 15 percent, which will go toward funding our projects.

The Art of Nonfiction
By Ayn Rand, edited by Robert Mayhew (2001)

Softcover

In 1969 Ayn Rand gave a series of informal lectures on the art of nonfiction to a select group of friends and associates. Guided solely by a brief outline, the world-renowned author discussed all aspects of creating effective nonfiction, a skill she believed could be learned and mastered by any rational person. Now, for the first time, the edited transcripts of these remarkable sessions are available to readers and writers. In The Art of Nonfiction, Rand takes readers step by step through the writing process, providing insightful observations and invaluable techniques along the way. She discusses the psychological aspects of writing and the different roles played by the conscious and the subconscious mind. She talks about articles and books, explaining how to select a subject and theme (“If you have nothing new to say, no matter how brilliantly you can say it, do not do it”); how to identify your audience; and how to write the first draft. From preparing an outline to polishing a draft to mastering an individual writing style, this crucial resource introduces the ideas of one of our most enduring authors to a new generation. This book, an essential companion piece to Ayn Rand’s The Art of Fiction, is at once a fascinating philosophical discourse on the art of creation and an invaluable guide for the aspiring writer or student. It is a treasure that will challenge and edify—and illuminate the way to more powerful writing.

The Art of Fiction (2000)
By Ayn Rand, edited by Tore Boeckmann

Softcover

In 1958, Ayn Rand, already the world-famous author of such bestselling books as Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, gave a private series of extemporaneous lectures in her own living room on the art of fiction. Tore Boeckmann and Leonard Peikoff, for the first time, bring to readers the edited transcript of these exciting personal statements. The Art of Fiction offers invaluable lessons in which Rand analyzes the four essential elements of fiction: theme, plot, characterization, and style. She demonstrates her ideas by dissecting her best-known works, as well as those of other famous authors such as Thomas Wolfe, Sinclair Lewis, and Victor Hugo. An historic accomplishment, this compendium will be a unique and fascinating resource for both writers and readers of fiction.

The Ayn Rand Column
(1991)

Softcover

A collection of Ayn Rand’s columns for the Los Angeles Times, and other essays.

The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z
Edited by Harry Binswanger (1986)

Softcover

The Ayn Rand Reader
Edited by Gary Hull and Leonard Peikoff (1998)

The Ayn Rand Reader combines, for the first time in one volume, extensive excerpts from all of Ayn Rand’s novels (Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, We the Living, and Anthem) and her nonfiction work. The fiction excerpts present her dramatic, man-glorifying universe. The nonfiction excerpts explain Objectivism’s fundamental ideas, such as reason, rational selfishness, and laissez-faire capitalism. For example, Ayn Rand’s essay “Man’s Rights” is used to explain the foundations of individual rights and capitalism.

The Ayn Rand Reader is recommended both to readers new to Ayn Rand and to those already familiar with her work.

Ayn Rand’s Marginalia
Edited by Robert Mayhew (1995)

Softcover

Notes Ayn Rand made in the margins of the works of more than twenty authors, including Barry Goldwater, C. S. Lewis, and Ludwig von Mises.

Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal
(1966)

Paperback  Audiobook

Essays on the theory and history of capitalism demonstrating that it is the only moral economic system, i.e., the only one consistent with individual rights and a free society. Includes: “What Is Capitalism?” “The Roots of War,” “Conservatism: An Obituary,” and “The Anatomy of Compromise.”

Listen to an audiobook excerpt from the Introduction.
Listen to an audiobook excerpt from Chapter Three.

For the New Intellectual
(1961)

A collection of the key philosophical passages from her novels. The 48-page title essay sweeps over the history of thought, showing how ideas control the course of history and how philosophy has served for the most part as an engine of destruction.

Listen to an audiobook excerpt from the Preface.

Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology
(1967)

Softcover

The Objectivist theory of concepts, with Ayn Rand’s solution to “the problem of universals,” identifying the relationship of abstractions to concretes. Includes an essay by Leonard Peikoff, “The Analytic-Synthetic Dichotomy.” The second edition (1990) includes transcripts of Ayn Rand’s workshops on her theory—containing her answers to questions about her theory raised by philosophers and other academics.

Journals of Ayn Rand
Edited by David Harriman (1997)

Softcover

An extensive collection of Ayn Rand’s thoughts—spanning forty years—on literature and philosophy, including notes on her major novels and on the development of the political philosophy of individualism. Features Ayn Rand’s 1947 HUAC testimony and her notes about Communism in Hollywood.

Letters of Ayn Rand
Edited by Michael S. Berliner (1995)

Softcover

This collection of more than 500 letters written by Ayn Rand offers much new information on her life as philosopher, novelist, political activist, and Hollywood screenwriter. Includes letters to fans, friends and family members, celebrities, business leaders, and philosophers.

Philosophy: Who Needs It
(1982)

Paperback

Everybody needs philosophy—that is the theme of this book. It demonstrates that philosophy is essential in each person’s life and shows how those who do not think philosophically are the helpless victims of ideas they accept passively from others. Essays include “Philosophical Detection,” “Causality Versus Duty,” and “The Metaphysical Versus the Man-Made.”

Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution
By Ayn Rand, edited by Peter Schwartz (1998)

Softcover

Return of the Primitive updates and expands Ayn Rand’s 1971 book The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution, and presents her identifications of the intellectual roots and goals of the New Left, a ’60s ideology opposed to industrial society. In his essays, Peter Schwartz explains how that same philosophy—in a different guise—permeates our culture today.

The Romantic Manifesto
(1969)

Paperback

Ayn Rand’s philosophy of art, with a new analysis of the Romantic school of literature. Essays include: “Philosophy and Sense of Life,” “The Psycho-Epistemology of Art,” and “What Is Romanticism?”

Russian Writings on Hollywood
By Ayn Rand (1998)

Softcover

Ten years before her first novel, We the Living, was published in the West, a teenaged Ayn Rand wrote two booklets in the USSR about the American film industry, Pola Negri and Hollywood: American City of Movies. These recently discovered works are published here in English for the first time. To purchase this book direct from ARI, visit the Ayn Rand Institute Press page.

The Virtue of Selfishness
(1964)

Paperback  Audiobook

Ayn Rand’s revolutionary concept of egoism. Essays on the morality of rational selfishness and the political and social implications of such a moral philosophy. Essays include: “The Objectivist Ethics,” “Man’s Rights,” “The Nature of Government,” and “Racism.”

Listen to an audiobook excerpt from the Introduction.

The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought
(1989)

Softcover

Philosophy and cultural analysis, including “Who Is the Final Authority in Ethics?” Also “Religion Versus America” by Leonard Peikoff and “Libertarianism: The Perversion of Liberty” by Peter Schwartz.

Why Businessmen Need Philosophy
By Ayn Rand, edited by Richard E. Ralston (1998)

Softcover  CD   Audiobook

A collection of essays to help today’s businessman understand the crucial role of philosophy in free trade, free markets, health care, and business ethics. The book includes a title essay by Leonard Peikoff and two essays by Ayn Rand never before published in book form: “The Money-Making Personality” and “An Answer for Businessmen.” Additional essays featured by Harry Binswanger, Richard Salsman, Edwin A. Locke, Jaana Woiceshyn, and John B. Ridpath. To purchase this book direct from ARI, visit the Ayn Rand Institute Press page.

Listen to an audiobook excerpt from the title essay.
Listen to an audiobook excerpt from “An Answer for Businessmen.”