Author: s1e2t3u4p5

Recent Sales Figures for Ayn Rand's Novels

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Ayn Rand’s novels continue to sell well, in both hardcover and paperback editions, many years after their original publication. This is well-known. But have you ever wondered what the actual figures are?
BookMagazine.com published a table summarizing the sales figures of the top 50 classic bestsellers (books that continue to sell well more than 5 years after their publication) for the year 2002.
Ayn Rand is one of the few authors with more than one book on this list. Here are the sales figures for her two most popular novels, from January through December of 2002:

Atlas Shrugged – 130,000 copies (#19 on the list)
The Fountainhead – 81,000 copies (#35 on the list)

These figures include chain booksellers and online outlets, representing approximately 70% of the bookselling market in the United States, but do not include campus or high school bookstores (which could add a substantial number of sales).
See the full list for additional details and the titles of the other top 50 classic bestsellers.

Joss Whedon and Ayn Rand

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

The Joss Whedon fans have discovered Monica White’s wonderful review of Firefly, at the Atlasphere.
Judging from the comments, some of Whedon’s fans have missed the boat regarding the value of Ayn Rand’s novels.
But not all of them, apparently: Our new member signups spiked noticeably this morning (by about fifteen more signups than normal, so far), which suggests at least some of Joss Whedon’s fans are also fans of Ayn Rand’s novels.

Professional Objectivists on Election 2004

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Still haven’t decided who to vote for this year? Some prominent Objectivists are offering to help clear the fog.
In his lecture earlier this year on the DIM Hypothesis, Leonard Peikoff came out in favor of voting for John Kerry, because of George W. Bush’s religious fanaticism. In fact, Peikoff arguest that it is immoral to abstain from voting against Bush.
Objectivist psychotherapist Michael Hurd, on the other hand, has a different take. According to his article “Looking Ahead While Living Today,” Bush is the lesser of two evils:

If the choice is between John Kerry, who almost certainly will never use military force to vigorously defend American interests versus George W. Bush, who will sometimes do so, then this is more important to me than whether or not the candidate approves of prayer or will appoint judges who are against abortion.

See the respective arguments from Drs. Peikoff and Hurd for their full rationale.

New Issue of 'Navigator'

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

The latest issue of The Objectivist Center’s monthly journal Navigator is out.
In ‘The Problem of Animal Rights,’ I discuss and critcize the arguments that philosophers have made in favor animal rights.

I think that the proper basis for individual rights?which I take to be Ayn Rand’s theory of rights?excludes extending rights or legal protections to animals…. This article will simply describe that theory and then employ it to rebut arguments that claim an extension of rights to animals is morally required.

Also in this issue, Robert Campbell reviews Owen Flanagan’s The Problem of the Soul in ‘What Does Science Say about the Mind?‘ And in ‘John Rennie: Enlightenment Engineer,’ Roger Donway profiles the man who rebuilt London Bridge.
See the full issue of Navigator for these and other articles.

Wanted: Objectivist Families

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

ABC recruiter Susie Banikarim (who tells me she has, herself, read all of Ayn Rand’s novels) extends the following invitation to members of the Atlasphere:

ARE YOU AN OBJECTIVIST?
Is Your Family Ready for Prime Time?

ABC is currently working on a groundbreaking new series that celebrates the American family, based on a major award-winning British format.
The programs are portraits of American life and I am looking for a family that lives its life by the philosophy of Ayn Rand to participate.
If you are a two-parent family with young or teenage children, at least two of whom are over the age of eight, you can be on our show.
If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be part of a different family or if you have ever wanted an opporunity to share how your family does things with the world, this is the opportunity for you.
If you’re interested, please call me (Susie Banikarim, 212-404-1429) as soon as possible. We’re looking for families all the time.

The Concerto of Deliverance

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Concerto of DeliveranceAtlasphere member Monart Pon has commissioned and produced a new CD entitled Concerto of Deliverance, by John Mills-Cockell. The album was released on July 4, 2004.
The Concerto of Deliverance web page states that it?s a work inspired by Ayn Rand?s words in Atlas Shrugged describing such music. Readers of Atlas Shrugged would know that ?The Concerto of Deliverance? is the title of Chapter VI, Part III, and is what Richard Halley?s friends called his Fifth Concerto.
The web site for the album offers samples from the 79-minute work. Also on the site are profiles of the composer and contributors, a pre-production interview with the composer, and the post-production Composer?s Notes, as well as reviews by Objectivist musicians and philosophers.
UPDATE (Aug 12): Doug Wagoner has written a formal review of the Concerto of Deliverance for the Atlasphere.

Notes on Whole Foods Owner John Mackey

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Atlasphere member Will Wilkinson notes on his blog that his local Giant grocery store is lousy in just about every way a grocery store can be lousy:

Sure, it’s cheaper than my other local grocery, Whole Foods (libertarian-owned, I’m told), but I think I may be willing to add $10 to each bill in order to save myself the aggravation of standing in line while the check-out lady makes yet another historic attempt to break all known records in lethargy (while the manager, a creature rarely seen, camps in the fetid back room listening to “The Rest of the Story” on Paul Harvey News and Comment.) Whole Foods is often packed, yet I rarely wait more than five minutes. Did I mention that Giant is ugly, and that the produce is bad.

I don’t know anything about Giant, but I know something about Whole Foods. In the early 1990s they bought out Wellspring Grocery, the natural foods grocery store that I had worked at in high school. At the time, I remember reading that Whole Foods owner John Mackey called himself a “new-age libertarian environmentalist,” whatever that meant.
A little research on the ‘net shows that he’s a colorful character:

[W]hen left-leaning journalists began attacking him for resisting union demands last year, MacKey responded by putting together “Beyond Unions,” a 19-page summary of his libertarian views that included quotes from libertarian giants like Ludwig von Mises, Milton and Rose Friedman, Henry Hazlitt, and Robert Nozick.

Heh. And how did he arrive at such pro-freedom views? Reportedly by reading Ayn Rand, among other authors.
Kathy and I find ourselves doing more and more shopping at the Whole Foods here in Albuquerque. …Why? Because it’s the best store in town: incredible selection, immaculately kept, and friendly staff. Always teeming with happy shoppers and fresh, delicious food. (Viva Capitalism!)

Celebrity Rand Fans: Rock Trio Rush

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

You probably already know that the rock trio Rush (and especially its drummer Neil Peart) are long-time fans of Ayn Rand’s writings.
Bay-area TV station KTVU recently profiled the band while reviewing their latest tour. The review makes brief reference to Rush’s adaptation of the storyline from Ayn Rand’s novelette Anthem for the title track on their 70s-era album 2112.
The profile begins:

There aren’t many surviving acts from the ’70s who can boast the kind of durability and integrity that Canadian trio Rush can. In an era when KISS continues touring years after its alleged farewell jaunt and hires two imposters to take on the costumed personas of original members, Rush’s line-up of bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee, underrated guitar hero Alex Lifeson and drummer/lyricist Neil “The Professor” Peart has managed to stay intact for three decades while remaining true to the unique kind of virtuoso musicianship and thought-provoking hard rock that have become Rush trademarks.

See KTVU’s full Rush profile for further information about this terrific rock band.
(If you’re unfamiliar with Rush, but interested in exploring their work, I particularly recommend their albums Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves. These two albums were released at the height of Rush’s career, and are masterpieces of classic, guitar-driven rock.)

Celebrity Ayn Rand Fan: Michelle Williams

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Dawson's Creek star Michelle WilliamsAccording to her “The Williams Center” fan site, Dawson’s Creek star Michelle Williams includes Ayn Rand among her favorite authors:

In her spare time, Michelle Williams enjoys reading more than anything else. Some of her favourite authors are Hermann Hesse, Dostoyevsky and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and Ayn Rand. She describes herself as “independent, determined and a risk-taker.” With that in mind, it is certainly just a matter of time before she becomes an established and respected actress in Hollywood.

See Ms. Williams’s full bio for more information about this fetching Rand fan.

Venezuelan Architect Credits Fountainhead

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From the Miami Herald (registration required):
For Sarita Mishkin de Darer, being a pioneer comes naturally. In the 50s in Venezuela it was unheard of for a woman to work, let alone go into such an “unfeminine” field as architecture.
She braved criticism and discrimination. A professor told her she could not be an architect with long fingernails and others chastised her for wearing pants to a work site.
The Venezuelan-born architect also shocked her family by not going into the family textile business. “I guess I was the black sheep, they thought I was crazy,” she says, laughing. She was sent to the Highland Manor boarding school in New Jersey. There a book by Ayn Rand changed her life.
“I read The Fountainhead when I was about 12, then that summer I went to Europe with my mother. The Louvre and all the art I saw affected me profoundly,” she recalls.
Today Sarita Darer, her husband, Oscar, and son, Eduardo, are the Darer Group, a design, finance and construction team now working on several condominium projects in Miami.
Sarita’s parents accepted her refusal to go into their textile business. ‘But only because I lied and told them I would study pharmacy which was `acceptable’ for a girl,” she says. Again, she broke the rules by graduating from high school at 15, then went on to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
“A year later I sent my grades and confessed I was majoring in architecture, but they didn’t understand because in Venezuela most plans were done by engineers,” she recalls. She graduated at age 20, worked one summer in New York, then returned to Venezuela to work at the Centro Simon Bolivar government agency.

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