Atlas felt a sense of déjà vu
Sunday, March 8th, 2009
“One of the methods used by statists to destroy capitalism consists in establishing controls that tie a given industry hand and foot, making it unable to solve its problems, then declaring that freedom has failed and stronger controls are necessary.” –Ayn Rand
That pretty much says it all. As an aside to this article, which is interesting by its own lights, this journal wonders if it’s really absolutely necessary for each and every media mention of Rand ever to include some disparaging remark just to make damn sure you wouldn’t ever actually think about reading going to the source – only those immature college students do that, and you’re not an immature college student, are you? You wouldn’t want to be mocked and reviled, would you? Well, this is a novel that refuses to be killed that easily, precisely because its themes are so universal. Go to the source, or check out ‘Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand’ by Leonard Peikoff if you’d prefer a non-fiction ‘A to Z’ systematization of Rand’s philosophy.
The Economist via Toronto Star
March 8, 2009
The spikes in sales of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ coincide with specific developments in the economy
Books do not sell themselves. That is what films are for.
The Reader, the book that inspired the Oscar-winning movie, has shot up the bestseller lists. Another recent publishing success, however, has had more help from Washington, D.C., than Hollywood: Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.
Reviled in some circles and mocked in others, Rand’s 1957 novel of embattled capitalism is a favourite of libertarians and college students. Lately, though, its appeal has been growing.
According to TitleZ, a firm that tracks bestseller rankings on Amazon, the book’s 30-day average rank on Feb. 21 was 127, well above its average over the past two years of 542. On Jan. 13 its ranking was 33, briefly besting President Barack Obama’s The Audacity of Hope.
Tellingly, the spikes in the novel’s sales coincide with the news. The first, in September 2007, followed dramatic interest-rate cuts by central banks, and the Bank of England’s bailout of Northern Rock, a mortgage lender. The October 2007 rise happened two days after the Bush Administration announced an initiative to coax banks to assist subprime borrowers.