Atlas Shrugged

1957  [Rosenbaum, Alisa] (1905-82). Atlas Shrugged. New York: Random House. By Ayn Rand [pseud.]. Rpt. New York: New American Library, 1959. 35^th anniversary ed. New York: Dutton, 1992. Rpt. New York: Plume, 2005. This is labeled “The Centennial Edition” on the cover and the copyright page, but it is simply a reprint of the 1992 edition. A three part film was announced. Part I was released in 2011 directed by Paul Johansson (b. 1964) a screenplay by John Aglialoro and Bryan Patrick O’Toole. Part II was released in 2012 directed by John Putch (b. 1961) with a screenplay by Duke Sandefur, Bryan Patrick O’Toole, and Duncan Scott. MH, PSt

The novel begins in an authoritarian dystopia in which most of the world is composed of collectivist “People’s States”. Over the course of the novel the U.S. is transformed into an individualistic, capitalist eutopia. The recurrent positive symbol throughout the book is the dollar sign. See also 1938 Rand. The female author was born in Russia and immigrated to the U.S. in 1926. Her given name of Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum was never used.