Ayn Rand Ou La Passion de L'Egoisme Rationnel: Une Biographie Intellectuelle

Besides being the author of novels which have all been huge best-sellers (The Fountainhead, 1943; Atlas Shrugged, 1957) – each of which has sold close to 7 million copies to date and enjoyed enduring success – Ayn Rand was also a very outspoken anti-establishment intellectual who greatly contributed to capitalism’s revival among a certain sector of American public opinion. She was also a highly publicised lecturer who became famous by advocating an “Aristotelian” ethic based upon “the virtue of rational egoism,” and was adulated on campuses and by thousands of disciples. Thirty years after her death, her work is still timely in the United States, where her ideas are inspiring a resurgence in fans: two biographies were published in 2009, there has been a spectacular rebound in sales of her cult novel Atlas Shrugged (nearly 500,000 copies sold in 2010), and a film adaptation of the first part of Atlas was released in April 2011. These are all very good reasons for Ayn Rand to finally become known in France, where she has remained virtually (and inexplicably) a stranger.