Product Description

For years, best-selling novelist and controversial philosopher Ayn Rand has been the victim of posthumous portrayals of her life and character taken from the pages of the biographies by Nathaniel Branden and Barbara Branden. Now, for the first time, Rand's own never-before-seen journal entries on the Brandens, and the first in-depth analysis of the Brandens' works, reveal the profoundly inaccurate and unjust depiction of their former mentor. This explosive book lays to rest the myths promulgated by the Brandens' books that have made their way into both the popular and scholarly debates about Rand's life and work, from academic journals to Hollywood movies. At last author James S. Valliant shines light on the truth hidden by the Brandens' biographies and sets the record straight on one of the most influential thinkers of our time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #100282 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-01
• Released on: 2005-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 385 pages

Review
"This book is going to be the Objectivist sensation of the year." -- Autonomist

"This is a vital work, perhaps a bible, for the serious students and supporters of Ayn Rand." -- Robert Middlemiss, editor-in-chief Durban House Publishing

From the Publisher
YOU HAVE A SIMILIAR TITLE WITH ALL THE WORDS LISTED FROM THE LIBRARY JOURNAL REVIEW: THE PASSION OF AYN RAND BY BARBARA BRANDEN... AS THE PUBLISHER WE SIMPLY ASK FOR THE SAME COURTESY FOR THE BOOK, THE PASSION OF AYN RAND'S CRITICS, WHEN IT COMES TO A KIRKUS REVIEW... In the "heroic-capitalist" novelist’s centenary year, prosecuting attorney Valliant skillfully cross-examines two previous biographers’ accounts of her tumultuous love affair with a younger man.

The affair itself is notorious: In the middle of the 1950’s, having first obtained the blessing of their respective spouses, brilliant, best-selling Rand, then 50, began a sexual relationship with her 25-year-old protégé, Nathaniel Branden, who became her public spokesman. Fourteen years later, the affair blew up after Rand learned of a longstanding extra-extramarital liaison between Branden and one of his female students. He later became a psychologist and author of popular books on self-esteem, but he still had a score to settle with Rand. His memoir-cum-biography, My Years with Ayn Rand (1989), portrayed her as an especially ruthless, hysterical version of the woman scorned, and former wife Barbara Branden did much the same in The Passion of Ayn Rand (1986). Valliant disputes this view, bringing to bear a persuasively close reading of internal contradictions and implausibilities in the Brandens’ books and subsequent statements. The author also makes use of previously unpublished personal journals kept by Rand in 1967-68, when her vast Objectivist following split into camps and drifted away over the rupture between the philosopher-queen and her "intellectual heir". Valliant appears to be a member of the still-very-active pro-Rand camp, but if the excerpts and editing of these journals can be trusted, they show the Brandens in a harsher light and offer a new glimpse of Rand as a remarkably patient, even "objective" expositor of facts that must have pained her.

Far too arcane and cumbersome to enthrall most fans of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, but deserves a place on the lengthening shelf of books about the influential Rand’s accomplishments and character.

About the Author
Author James Stevens Valliant is the editor of the private journals of Ayn Rand used extensively in his work, The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics. He and his wife, Holly, created the 1995 television interview show, 'Ideas in Action', the winner of two prestigious Cinema in Industry (CINDY) Awards. Mr. Valliant is currently writing a book on the origins and nature of the New Testament and lives with his wife, Holly, and two small dogs, Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra, in San Diego, California.

Customer Reviews

Now we can put all that rubbish behind us...
Kudos to Mr. Valliant. His new book The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics has made me proud to call myself an Objectivist once more. This thoroughly researched and readable book reveals the scope of the premeditated and self-serving dishonesty of Nathaniel (and Barbara) Branden against the person and character of Ayn Rand. These lies (made while she was alive and especially after her death) smeared the reputation of Ayn Rand to the point that a mere mention of her name or ideas in certain quarters is met with a chorus of ad hominem attacks.

The book thoroughly exposes the Branden's and their motives, finally laying to rest all of the urban myths surrounding these private affairs, assisted by portions of the unpublished journals of Ayn Rand herself. I care little for the private lives of philosophers, but these matters have become an impediment to the serious discussion of Ayn Rand's ideas. Valliant's deft dispatch of the Branden's should clear the path for more rational consideration.

More interesting, the book reveals the amazing focus and moral clarity of Ayn Rand; remarkable given the painful personal nature of the context. Few who are familiar with the consistency and systematic nature of her values will be surprised that she was able to discover, despite the evasions and misdirection of her psychotherapist business-partner/lover, the true nature of Nathaniel Branden. But her ability for rational introspection during difficult emotional circumstances, while still feeling the emotions, is truly inspiring.

One the greatest contributions and innovations of Ayn Rand is her integration of the fields of Ethics and Metaphysics -morality based on reality, with `life' as the objective standard of value for human beings. In an age dominated by mystics on one side and relativists and skeptics on the other, the philosophical alternative offered by Objectivist ethics is a desperately needed (and much more rational) option.

Thanks to Mr. Valliant's efforts in The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics, the growing popularity for the ideas of Ayn Rand can enjoy a further renaissance of careful consideration and genuine debate, and we can put all that other rubbish behind us.

Ayn Rand: A Valliant Vindication
James Valliant, prosecuting attorney and graduate philosopher, aptly demonstrates a superior grasp of both professions with his book, "The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics." The prosecutor meticulously delves into the voluminous fabrications, misrepresentations and outright lies perpetrated against Ayn Rand by her former associates, Nathanial and Barbara Branden. The philosopher exhibits the insight essential to a proper analysis of the facts in a highly philosophical context.

As an Objectivist on the scene when Ayn Rand denounced the Brandens in 1968, I can attest to the ensuing turmoil among her admirers due to the sudden necessity to face the distasteful fact of the Brandens' betrayal. In the confusion, they manipulated the unwary for years, strategically waiting until after Ayn Rand's death to unleash their main vitriol via "biographies," which in turn created a never-ending onslaught of attacks by a bevy of Ayn Rand haters. These books, notably Ms. Branden's "The Passion of Ayn Rand," are the primary source for virtually all the hatchet job op-ed misrepresentations that have appeared over the years of Ayn Rand, of her philosophy, Objectivism, and of her associates. The Brandens' fabrications have gone unanswered for decades.

Now comes James Valliant to set the record straight. Every Objectivist should read his book in order to grasp the incomprehensible depth and breadth of the scurrilous injustice perpetrated against our heroine. Every skeptic with an abiding respect for ideas should read his book in order to free himself of falsehood. Every detractor (and anonymous reviewer) should read his book; then look in a mirror.

Valliant's work is a tour de force. His is the dynamite to clear the logjam of deceit that has impeded the flow of Objectivism into the mainstream of popular thought; it will render the Brandens and their ilk just so much flotsam. As John Galt would say, "The road is cleared."

Bravo! One of the best books I've ever read!
Could not out this book down. Read the whole book in two sittings. Like watching Sherlock Holmes put all the clues together to find out what REALLY happened. Any woman who's ever been emotionally abused by some narcissistic con-man boyfriend will read this and weep. Can never thank you enough , Mr Valliant! You will always be "Prince Valliant" to this reader!