In 2009, the first year of the tea party, it sold around 500,000 copies. As a kid, i read atlas shrugged three or four times, starting in sixth or seventh grade, all while attending catholic schools in orange county, california. He owns the most important steel company in the united states, and invents rearden metal, an alloy stronger than steel with similar properties to stainless steel. It is a mystery, not about the murder of a mans body, but about the murderand rebirthof mans spirit. Rand follows the lives of societys movers and shakers firsthanders, in her words, and business men, scientists, inventors, and artists in her novel as they resist the societal pull to become. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, atlas shrugged stretches the boundaries further than any book you have ever read.
I got interested in the book after seeing the two films. The book sold 445,000 copies in 2011, the secondstrongest sales year in the novels history. One of the most prominent is the notion that selfishness is evil and selfsacrifice is good. The story is set many decades in the past and focuses on a rail executive who finds herself in a world where business leaders are disappearing. There is a very good reason why there are always piles of six to ten copies of atlas shrugged in every thrift store and used book store in the country.
Atlas shrugged is structured in three major parts, each of which consists of ten chapters. Atlas shrugged by ayn rand the 203rd greatest fiction. There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteenyearolds life. I am reading the entire book to compare the movie to the book. Atlas shrugged has sold somewhere between 7 million and 8 million copies in the united states. Atlas shrugged is the astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the worldand did. The book is extremely long and does get become unnecessarily long and repetitive at points, but is still a good read nonetheless. The bestselling book of all time marginal revolution. Dagny taggart, vice president in charge of operations for taggart transcontinental railroad, seeks to rebuild the crumbling track of the rio norte line that serves ellis wyatts oil fields and the booming industrial areas of colorado. Atlas shrugged, a modern classic and rands most extensive statement of objectivismher groundbreaking philosophyoffers the reader the spectacle of human greatness, depicted with all the poetry and power of one of the twentieth centurys leading artists. Atlas shrugged is absurd but strangely compelling books. Atlas shrugged provides those answers, and many more. Henry known as hank rearden is one of the central characters in atlas shrugged. Ayn rand atlas shrugged paperback book libertarian country.
Yes, almost 9 million copies of atlas shrugged have been sold. The parts and chapters are named, and the titles typically suggest multiple layers of meaning and implication. Ayn rands literature of capitalism the new york times. Irvine, ca ayn rands atlas shrugged sold more than 500,000 copies in 2009, more than. She explores the ramifications of her radical thinking in a world that penalizes human intelligence and integrity. According to brook, atlas shrugged, her most famous novel, has sold more copies in the first four months of 2009 than it did for all of 2008 and in 2008, it sold 200,000 copies.
He lives in philadelphia with his wife lillian, his brother philip, and his elderly mother. By 1984 more than five million copies of atlas shrugged had been sold, and in a 1991 library of congress survey americans named it second only to the bible as the book that had most influenced their lives. Ayn rands atlas shrugged places in the top 20 on the. How many americans have read the mostbeloved novel in.
But to understand the authors sense of urgency, we must have an idea of the context in which the book was written. Atlas shrugged is a huge sprawling dystopian novel that combines economics, science fiction, philosophy, and intrique. In 1991 the book of the month club and library of congress asked readers to name the most influential book in their lives. The 23 most expensive books sold in 2016 businessinsider. It is a long book, but i would recommend it to serious readers. Dagny quits over the new directive and retreats to a mountain lodge. As a student of american capitalism, rand believed that unfettered economic freedom was the factor most responsible for the major achievements of american inventors and businessmen during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Rand set out to explain her personal philosophy in this book, which follows a group of pioneering industrialists who go on strike against a corrupt government and a judgmental society. And atlas shrugged has made numerous best of lists. You dont read atlas shrugged, you leave it where people will see it, carry it on top of your other books or hold it open on the subway but you dont read it the point of atlas shrugged is to signal that you are a toughminded, twofisted, independent gogetter, to let the world know why your sneer of disdain is justified, to advertise that you have no need of. Ayn rands atlas shrugged places in the top 20 on the great.
First published in 1957, atlas shrugged continues to draw media attention, including a recent episode of stossel on fox business network dedicated to the novel. Atlas shrugged is one of those books that divides its readers. This being the case, turning to atlas shrugged because you dont like the way things are going is the equivalent of diving for the centre of the fire because the frying pan got too hot. Atlas shrugged by ayn rand 1957, hardcover for sale. Atlas shrugged no longer ranks among americans top ten favorite books. This revised edition of atlas shrugged was published on 1 september 1996 and is available in paperback. Rands atlas shrugged was the second most popular choice, after the bible. Ayn rands analogy specifically referenced in the books are that the industrialists and geniuses of the world essentially carry the entire. Atlas shrugged challenges many conventional notions about good and evil. Buy atlas shrugged book online at low prices in india. I read most of what she wrote both fiction and nonfiction.
Atlas shrugged includes elements of science fiction, mystery, and romance, and it contains rands most extensive statement of objectivism in any of her works of fiction the book depicts a dystopian united states. This is surprisingly because it is a horrendous book containing cardboard characters, over necessarily long speeches, absurd plot lines and at least 500 pages more than it needs. Latest figures list sales of atlas shrugged at well over seven million copies including a boost during the beginning of the recent great recession that started in 2007. In one survey from 16 years ago, atlas shrugged was ranked second only to the bible as the book that influenced people most. Atlas shrugged has sold around 7 million copies since it was published, which puts it at around half as. Rands fourth and final novel, it was also her longest, and the one she considered to be her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing. I believe that claim is a reference to a 1991 survey conducted by the library of congress of 2,000 book of the month readers, so take that as you will. Atlas shrugged first edition ayn rand bauman rare books. Rands books continue to be widely sold and read, with over 29 million copies sold as of 20 with about 10% of that total purchased for free distribution to schools by the ayn rand institute. For decades, at scores of college campuses around the country, students have formed clubs to. Atlas was a figure in greek mythology who was punished by zeus to bear the entire world on his shoulders.
It was with the publication of the fountainhead 1943 and atlas shrugged 1957 that she achieved her spectacular success. Probably the most difficult part of reading this book is its length. My local used bookstore has so many copies they wont accept any more. The novel is written in a modern popular style and is mostly highly readable. Atlas shrugged by ayn rand meet your next favorite book. Atlas shrugged has sold around 7 million copies since it was published, which puts it at around half as many copies as the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. A book of two mysteries, with the stories closely related, readers follow the journey of a steel magnate and railroad executive, as they attempt to solve both the mysteries in the collapse of an increasingly collectivist and irrational world. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. Atlas shrugged is a hugely popular book among american conservatives and libertarians who see it as a symbol of resistance to government tyranny. Rands unique philosophy, objectivism, has gained a worldwide audience. More than twice this many copies of atlas shrugged have been sold. More than 7,000,000 copies of atlas shrugged have been sold since it was first published. Since it was published in 1957, atlas shrugged has sold millions of copies and occupied a singular position in american politics, a field not generally known for its attention to novels. When she learns of a massive accident at the taggart tunnel, she returns to her job.
The book explores a number of philosophical themes that rand would subsequently develop into the philosophy of objectivism. Part mystery, part thriller, part philosophical inquiry, part volatile love affair, atlas shrugged is the book that confirmed ayn rand as one of the most popular novelist and. Is atlas shrugged the second most popular book next to the bible. Atlas shrugged is the second most influential book for americans today after the bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the library of congress and the book of the month club. Atlas shrugged is an impassioned defense of the freedom of mans mind. This book should be required reading for everybody for a book published over half a century ago it it.
Institute estimates that more than 6 million copies of atlas shrugged have been sold, so it doesnt come close to. Book summary the story of atlas shrugged takes place in the united states at an unspecified future time. Atlas shrugged by ayn rand, first edition abebooks. Published in 1957, atlas shrugged was ayn rands last and most ambitious novel.
Atlas shrugged by ayn rand best 100 novels top 100. So if you think, as the economist suggests, that sales of atlas shrugged in the united states were pushed up by the british bailout of northern rock and the u. The main difference from atlas shrugged as written many years later was that while in russia, rand idealized america as a capitalist. Atlas shrugged and the fountainhead were number 1 and 2 respectively on the modern. Atlas shrugged by ayn rand audio book simply audiobooks. The first and most important we learn from atlas shrugged is that you can tell good and bad people apart at a glance. Atlas shrugged is a ridiculous book whistling in the wind. About atlas shrugged cliffsnotes study guides book. One of the most influential business books ever written is a 1,200page novel published 50 years ago, on oct. In atlas shrugged, she shows that without the independent mind, our society would collapse into primitive savagery. In a recent library of congressbook of the month club survey, american readers ranked atlas shruggedher masterworkas second only to the bible in its influence on their lives. My ayn rand craze was in the late seventies when i was a professor of biblical studies at bethel college. The atlas shrugged book club begins, polarized but polite.
Atlas shrugged has sold around 7 million copies since it was published, which puts it at around half as many copies as the hitchhikers guide. So why is ayn rand and her most famous work, atlas shrugged, so. After reading the fountainhead and atlas shrugged by ayn rand in 20052006, my life has been changed for the better. The fundamentals of her philosophy are put forth in three nonfiction books, introduction to. It tells the story of what would happen if industrial leaders went on. Rand wrote atlas shrugged in opposition to these views.
Born february 2, 1905, ayn rand published her first novel, we the living, in 1936. Is atlas shrugged the second most popular book next to the. Next in line is badenpowells boy scouts book and then lord of the rings. Published in 1957, atlas shrugged was ayn rands greatest achievement.