Abstract

Two complementary biographies of Ayn Rand were published in 2009: Goddess of the Market, by Jennifer Burns, and Ayn Rand and the World She Made, by Anne Heller. Burns focuses on Rand's influence on American political thought, while Heller's concern is Rand the screenwriter, novelist, and author of her personal mythos. Both books are meticulously researched and well written; neither author espouses Rand's philosophy or agrees with her politics. Such books establish that Rand's ideas have become part of American culture and are no longer set over and against it.