Atlas Shrugged Mass market paperbound - 1970
by Ayn Rand (Other)
About this book
Ayn Rand in her most controversial book yet, depicts a dystopian United State. A world of private businesses that are increasingly penalized and weighted through laws and regulations, stepping over the people who carry out that labor.
As a mysterious figure, John Gault appears on the scene; the country’s top banker, an oil producer, a professor, a composer, and a distinguished judge disappear without a trace, abandoning their professions and loved ones. In turn a revolution begins, creating a new society based on the ‘philosophy of selfishness’ in efforts to be dismissed from the exploitation of those with authority and power.
Atlas Shrugged “is a mystery story, not about the murder of a man’s body, but about the murder — and rebirth — of man’s spirit.” -Ayn RandReader reviews for Atlas Shrugged
Review summary
Readers see Atlas Shrugged as a polarizing ideological novel. Admirers call it a galvanizing defense of individual agency and free markets, an engrossing story with strong momentum and a memorable world, anchored by Dagny Taggart’s rare portrayal as a powerful female industrialist. Detractors fault its black-and-white morality, wooden prose, symbolic characters, and marathon speeches—especially Galt’s—as propaganda that flattens human complexity. Many consider it influential and politically relevant today; even fans concede its length and sermonizing, while critics admit it can be a compelling, consequential read.
Readers say this book is:
polarizinglife-changingdidacticlong-windedpage-turnerprovocativeideologically heavysimplistic charactersprescientmelodramaticWrite a review for this book
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First edition identification
Random House published a First Edition, First Printing hardcover in 1957, New York. This edition was published with a blue cloth-board slipcase and blue tinted page-edges. The book is characterized by its blue cloth bound boards and gilt lettering.
Details
- Title Atlas Shrugged
- Author Ayn Rand (Other)
- Binding Mass Market Paperbound
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Signet Book
- Publication date November 1, 1970
- ISBN 9780451044440 / 0451044444
- Reading level 990
- Category Fiction - General
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
