Search  for anything...
NA

The Book of Ayn: A Novel

    • Based on 135 reviews
Condition: New
Checking for product changes
$10.30 Why this price?
Save $16.70 was $27.00

Buy Now, Pay Later

As low as $2 / mo
  • – 4-month term
  • – No impact on credit
  • – Instant approval decision
  • – Secure and straightforward checkout

Ready to go? Add this product to your cart and select a plan during checkout. Payment plans are offered through our trusted finance partners Klarna, PayTomorrow, Affirm, Afterpay, Apple Pay, and PayPal. No-credit-needed leasing options through Acima may also be available at checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Free shipping on this product

30-day refund/replacement

To qualify for a full refund, items must be returned in their original, unused condition. If an item is returned in a used, damaged, or materially different state, you may be granted a partial refund.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

Availability: Only 1 left in stock, order soon!
Fulfilled by Canterbury Booksellers
Arrives Saturday, Apr 26
Order within 38 minutes
Available payment plans shown during checkout

Recently Viewed

Description

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 – communal love, communal toilets – and a new perspective on Ayn Rand that could bring Anna back home to herself. "A gimlet- eyed satirist of the cultural morasses and political impasses of our times" (Alexandra Kleeman), Lexi Freiman speaks in The Book of Ayn not only to a particular millennial loneliness, but also to a timeless existential predicament: the strangeness, absurdity, and hilarity of seeking meaning in the modern world. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Catapult (November 14, 2023)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1646221923


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 29


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.77 x 0.86 x 8.58 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #498,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #475 in Comedic Dramas & Plays (Books) #3,957 in Humorous Fiction #4,540 in Fiction Satire


#475 in Comedic Dramas & Plays (Books):


#3,957 in Humorous Fiction:


Frequently asked questions

If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Saturday, Apr 26

Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

  • Klarna Financing
  • Affirm Pay in 4
  • Affirm Financing
  • Afterpay Financing
  • PayTomorrow Financing
  • Financing through Apple Pay
Leasing options through Acima may also be available during checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Similar Products

Top Amazon Reviews

    • Few redeeming qualities
Saw this in NYT Book Reviews, looked interesting so I bought a copy. Does this type of “transgressive fiction” pass for literature nowadays? It shouldn’t. And yes, I did “get it”: I am Gen Z who understood every reference in the book and has read both Ayn herself and the beat novelists of this author’s tradition. I am not some uneducated person going through “an Ayn Rand phase” whom this author clearly looks down upon and probably considers all her critics to be. Pros (why it’s not 1 star) - occasionally funny. I laughed aloud exactly twice while reading: during that first Ayn Rand Starbucks scene, and the nibbling goat in her meditation. - the author knows how to write. She has vivid descriptions and the trait of noticing. She’s not boring. Cons - the book reads like a fever dream. Stream of consciousness. Did the author put any thought whatsoever into the cohesive whole? Is that why she resorted to the terrible, nonsensical ending with turtles? Is that why random details are introduced, all Checkhov guns that fail to fire? For example why dedicate a page to the random hitchhikers when they first arrive at Lesvos when we’re never going to see them again and they have no symbolic meaning? The author also throws political stuff on the page implying it has some important meaning (Antifa mentions, for example), but when you take the time to think about it you realize it’s as random as a monkey with a dartboard. It’s just one big random fever dream, a misunderstanding of transgressive fiction. - it’s gratuitous: strangely scatological, and off-limits romance. Overall effect is disturbing, not funny. - Tries to embrace paradox but instead seems the author (not just the character) is unable to come up with a coherent positive statement. Tears down everyone else’s beliefs, puts forth no original thought of her own. Overall the book is so poorly made it refutes any political opinions on Ayn Rand or her works, itself. Like a kid playing a triangle in the school band and attempting to take down a professional musician through their triangular satire. This book should be read as an occasionally funny comedy, nothing more. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2023 by Axel
    • Ah, to be in Ayn's head!
What an interesting perspective and some actual belly laughs.
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2025 by Brian Bartholomew
    • Great put down
My son hates Ayn Rand’s writings & philosophies. This book should make him smile.
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2024 by Peg in VA
    • Odd postmodern satire, starts well but does downhill with a whimper
Not what I expected or was hoping for, given the number of glowing reviews. The first part of the book does poke a bit at modern (postmodern) cancel culture and obsession with identity politics in 'normal' interactions and 'popular' culture. The second part seems to ramble on without any sense of direction. Perhaps the subline satire for which this book has been praised is the lack of development both within the book and the protagonist, Anna. Her inability to grow through reading, study, or life experience ends up feeling repetitive and redundant. At the end all I felt was glad that I only wasted a couple of hours reading the book. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2023 by Matt L
    • A respectful reflection of Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum
A respectful reflection of Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum in the context of obviously oblivious, narcissistic, cancelation-obsessed, millennial influencers and woke idealessologists. Raffie and his girlies. Symbolic turds bereft of paper. This is writing at its best. An iceberg snow cap and a depressingly colossal black mass of a despairing culture with an objectivity problem beneath the surface. Printed in China by cheap labor and distributed by Capitalists. Then it morphs. We enter an ego killing cult with all its inherent weak thinking. And then the old woman has an affair with Nathanial umm Baby. We see that vanity unfold and watch it disintegrate in betrayal. Huh. Heretofore there has been the writings of Ayn Rand on objectivism and the reporting of Barbara Brandon on Ayn’s monstrous sexual selfishness with her husband. Huh. I’m going to need another read through to catch all of the nuance involved in weaving them together in a single novel. Bravo, Ms. Freiman. This book has ambition. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2023 by David A. Lance
    • A Non-Edifying Experience But a Quick Read
If only the creativity involved in setting up Allie's flight to Hollywood had continued with a saga of her series' creation (a sitcom featuring Ayn Rand or an avatar), and its either failure or jaw-dropping popularity due to nobody getting the joke ... or something like that. Instead the narrative diffuses (and defuses) and becomes a vast run-on sentence of nothingness. Experiences pile up and many of them seem to spark Allie's quest for transcendence, until the next weird encounter. Nobody grows or learns anything. Nobody (including the main character) seems to do anything but sink ever-deeper into pools of narcissism (not the Objectively Good kind) and solipsism which occasionally overlap other characters' hopeless existences. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2024 by Mark Alfred
    • two stars at best
I don't read much fiction but I thought this one might be interesting as it is a commentary on current culture and how it might or might not be reflective of randian ideas. It was disappointing. I did not enjoy it though I read it all. I guess the whole idea was to leave one hanging.... over and over; but I thought the overlaid connections were weak if made at all. It wasn't that funny either in fact the "porn" part was weird or could be disturbing. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2024 by K. Foster
    • "I really like your micro-talent."
A cancelled NYC writer goes to LA to write a pilot for a comedy...about Ayn Rand. I laughed out loud just typing that sentence. But you don't have to know anything about Rand to enjoy this book. It's bitingly funny, a sharp social commentary, and every sentence sings.
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2025 by Margaret Feike

Can't find a product?

Find it on Amazon first, then paste the link below.