Ayn Rand's Reading List
The 5 books that shaped Ayn Rand — novelist & philosopher.
Russian-American writer whose novels championing individualism and rational self-interest sparked a philosophical movement.
Influential Books
Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand(1957)
Rand's epic novel — what happens when the world's producers go on strike. Love it or hate it, it's unforgettable.
The Fountainhead
Ayn Rand(1943)
Howard Roark, the architect who refuses to compromise. Rand's hymn to individualism and creative integrity.
Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle
Rand called Aristotle the greatest philosopher and built her Objectivism on his rational, eudaimonic ethics.
Les Misérables
Victor Hugo(1862)
Hugo was Rand's favorite novelist. She admired his grand romantic vision and moral heroism.
We the Living
Ayn Rand(1936)
Rand's first novel — autobiographical, set in Soviet Russia, and the most personal thing she ever wrote.