Ayn Rand

"Atlas Shrugged" was the only book of fiction ever written by this American (Russian born) philosopher. The 1100 page novel embodies her passionate celebration of indvidualism, free will, capitalism, logic, and reason. She said she wrote with a sense of mission "and after Atlas I was no longer pressured, my lifelong asssignment was over." She believed she had explained her philosophical views clearly enough and did not write another word of fiction for the rest of her life. According to a 1991 Library of Congress Report, her book is considered the second most influencial book after the Bible in the lives of its readers.