Ayn Rand’s Early Novel ‘Ideal’ To Be Published After 80 Years

Ayn Rand’s Early Novel ‘Ideal’ To Be Published After 80 Years

Ayn Rand fans, here’s something to whet your appetites: New American Library has released the cover image for “Ideal,” the first Ayn Rand novel to be published in more than 50 years.

Ayn Rand, author of “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead,” invented the philosophy of Objectivism. More than 25 million copies of her novels have been sold around the world.

“Ideal” tells the story of a screen actress who is accused of murder and visits six of her most devoted fans to ask for help. In 1934, when she was in her late 20s, Rand first wrote “Ideal” as a work of fiction.

But Rand was dissatisfied with it and set it aside. The same year, she rewrote it as a play. The play didn’t have its New York premiere until 2010 – 66 years after she wrote it.

The original version was rediscovered in 2012 by Richard Ralston, publishing manager at the Ayn Rand Institute, while digitizing the Rand archives. (At 135 pages, it’s been called a novelette and a novella. The publisher is now billing it as a “short novel.”)

The new book, which contains both the novel and the play, is scheduled to be released on July 7 by Penguin Random House imprint New American Library, Rand’s longtime publisher.

https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/12/03/ayn-rands-early-novel-ideal-to-be-published-after-80-years/