About the Author

Barbara Branden(1929-2013) was a Canadian writer and lecturer on effective thinking, who earned her MA in philosophy from New York University. Under the guidance of Sidney Hook, an American philosopher, Branden authored a thesis on free will. She is well known for her complicated relationship with Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand, which was an influence for her two biographies on Rand, Who Is Ayn Rand? and The Passion of Ayn Rand. During her lifetime she was the managing editor ofThe Objectivistand the executive vice president of the Nathaniel Branden Institute in New York.

Reviews

Whether or not one subscribes to Rand's right-wing philosophy, this book is likely to make a lasting impression. Branden, a close friend of Rand in the 1950s and 1960s, offers us an intimate portrait, using printed sources, memories, and interviews as she eases back and forth between Rand's professional and private selves. Though occasionally marred by purple prose and the exuberance of a faithful disciple, this book nevertheless achieves a rare balance between engaged reminiscence and critical appraisal of this important conservative thinker. Michael Edmonds, State Historical Soc. of Wisconsin Lib., Madison