October 23, 2009 12:08PM # Talking about Ayn Rand By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) --- SHARE Two new books about Ayn Rand are just hitting the bookstores: *Ayn Rand and the World She Made*, by Anne C. Heller, and *Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right*, by Jennifer Burns. As Janet Maslin [writes in the *New York Times*](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/books/22rand.html?hpw), reviewing the two books, the 1970s were “one Rand moment. This seems to be another.” Brian Doherty, historian of libertarianism, [agrees](http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/10/why-ayn-rand-is-hot-again). Sales of *The Fountainhead* are [soaring in India](http://reason.com/blog/2009/10/19/how-do-you-say-ayn-rand-moment). The [chairman of BB&T](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/business/02bbt.html?_r=1&dbk) was inspired by her work to renounce lending to eminent-domain projects and to spread her ideas in schools and colleges. She’s being [blamed for the financial crisis](http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/114968-frontline-the-warning/#) on government TV, but the takeovers and bailouts have caused sales of *Atlas Shrugged* to [soar](https://www.cato.org/2009/05/18/what-caused-atlas-shrugged-sales-to-soar/). Both the books are getting good reviews, though reviewers have varying perspectives on the subject of the bios. Rand has been denounced in the [*New Republic*](http://www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/wealthcare-0) (yet again), and defended against *TNR*’s criticisms by our own [Will Wilkinson](http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2009/09/16/jonathan-chait-on-ayn-rand/). Embattled governor Mark Sanford declares her prophetic in [*Newsweek*](http://www.newsweek.com/id/219001). [*New York*](http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/60120/) magazine calls her “Mrs. Logic,” not without irony. Caroline Baum of [Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=agnUNf5tVa_U) says Rand would tell us to stop blaming capitalism for problems caused by regulation and cronyism. [Conor Friedersdorf](http://trueslant.com/conorfriedersdorf/2009/10/20/getting-ayn-rand-objectively-wrong/) can’t believe how wrong Hendrik Hertzberg gets her in the [*New Yorker*](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/hendrikhertzberg/2009/10/the-rand-brand.html). Find out for yourself next Wednesday when Burns and Heller speak at a Cato Book Forum, “The Life and Impact of Ayn Rand.” If you can’t get to Washington, [watch it on the web](https://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=6416). ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).