The Book of Ayn

An original and hilarious satire of both our political culture and those who rage against it, The Book of Ayn follows a writer from New York to Los Angeles to Lesbos as she searches for artistic and spiritual fulfillment in radical selfishness, altruism, and ego-death

After writing a satirical novel that The New York Times calls classist, Anna is shunned by the literary establishment and, in her hurt, radicalized by the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Determined to follow Rand's theory of rational selfishness, Anna alienates herself from the scene and eventually her friends and family. Finally, in true Randian style, she abandons everyone for the boundless horizons of Los Angeles, hoping to make a TV show about her beloved muse.

Things look better in Hollywood—until the money starts running out, and with it Anna's faith in the virtue of selfishness. When a death in the family sends her running back to New York and then spiraling at her mother's house, Anna is offered a different kind of opportunity. A chance to kill the ego causing her pain at a mysterious commune on the island of Lesbos. The second half of Anna's odyssey finds her exploring a very different kind of freedom... and a new perspective on Ayn Rand that could bring Anna back home to herself.

About the Author

Lexi Freiman is an Australian writer and editor who graduated from Columbia's MFA program in 2012. Her first novel, Inappropriation, was longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize and the Miles Franklin Award. She also writes for television.

Reviews

"A furious, jagged and radiant reckoning with the dangers of the manifesto, the mortifications of aging, the mercies and limitations of the comic posture, the job of the novelist and the indiscriminate desecration it demands." —Alexandra Tanner, The New York Times Book Review

"[A] delightful cancel-culture satire... One reads The Book of Ayn with genuine relief that someone has pulled off a novel of jokes at the expense of the most solemnly protected absurdities of our time." —Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

"One of the funniest and unruliest novels in ages. It shakes you by the shoulders until you laugh, vomit or both... The author torques her contrarianism, past trolling, past knee-jerk philosophizing and past satire, alchemizing a critique of literary culture in all its ideological waywardness." —Ryan Chapman, Los Angeles Times

"The funniest novel I've read in years... A comic work laced with extremely sharp insights and keen wisdom on our culture's hyper-sensitive sore spots (cancellation, greed, the need to be seen as empathetic, etc.). It's the best kind of writing: utterly fearless in the face of caution, a touch dangerous, and ferociously clever... An instant classic." —Christopher Bollen, Interview

"A firecracker of a book... Irreverent and ridiculous, sarcastic and flippant, and also there's something very real at the core, something tender, as Anna searches deeply for meaning in a culture of vapidity and reactionary politics... A bold take on political culture, virtue signaling, and the attempt to be unique and also right in a world such as ours, and it manages to do it all with humor and depth." —Julia Hass, Literary Hub

Dimensions: 14 x 21.1 cm