Biographies “Twin Biographies of a Singular Woman, Ayn Rand - New York Times” plus 4 more |
- Twin Biographies of a Singular Woman, Ayn Rand - New York Times
- Spoof biographies look to spoil Sarah Palin's book launch - The Guardian
- Amelia” and the Tucson 99s - Tucson Citizen
- Run-DMC set for Broadway musical? - NME
- Bell Aliant supports six athlete contenders as they make their bid for ... - CNW Group
| Twin Biographies of a Singular Woman, Ayn Rand - New York Times Posted: 21 Oct 2009 11:00 PM PDT Ayn Rand poses theatrically in her signature cape and gold dollar-sign pin on the cover of a groundbreaking new biography. Rand also poses theatrically in this same Halloween-ready costume (Rand impersonators have been known to wear it) on the cover of another groundbreaking new biography. The two books are being published a week apart. And both have gray covers that make them look even more interchangeable. Yet Rand, whose Objectivist philosophy is enjoying one of its periodic resurgences, loathed the very idea of grayness. She preferred dichotomies that were strictly black and white. Skip to next paragraph 
AYN RAND AND THE WORLD SHE MADE By Anne C. Heller Illustrated. 567 pages. Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. $35. GODDESS OF THE MARKET Ayn Rand and the American Right By Jennifer Burns Illustrated. 369 pages. Oxford University Press. $27.95. So in a Rand universe — like those of "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged," the doorstop treatise-style novels that have given her such staying power — it would be unacceptable that one of these books would be only moderately better than the other. And the versions of her story should not overlap as vastly as they do. But both authors, Anne C. Heller ("Ayn Rand and the World She Made") and Jennifer Burns ("Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right") make many of the same points and touch on many of the same biographical details. That repetition is especially surprising since Ms. Burns had access to the supposedly crucial Ayn Rand Papers at the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, Calif. Ms. Heller did not. Still, Ms. Heller's research is more intensive. It is so thorough, in fact, that it seems to inform Ms. Burns's parallel but more cursory account of Rand's personal life. (The Heller manuscript has been in circulation for long enough to be cited in one of Ms. Burns's footnotes and included in her bibliography.) Ms. Heller has delivered a thoughtful, flesh-and-blood portrait of an extremely complicated and self-contradictory woman, coupling this character study with literary analysis and plumbing the quirkier depths of Rand's prodigious imagination. Ms. Burns glosses through all this to arrive at her book's best section, a lengthy coda about Rand's intellectual and political legacies. Neither book is the work of a slavish Rand devotee. Ms. Heller's book is worth its $35 price, which is not the kind of detail that Rand herself would have been shy about trumpeting. When Russian Bolshevik soldiers commandeered and closed the St. Petersburg pharmacy run by Zinovy Rosenbaum, they made a lifelong capitalist of his 12-year-old daughter, Alissa, who would wind up fusing the subversive power of the Russian political novel with glittering Hollywood-fueled visions of the American dream. While Ms. Heller sifts carefully through Rand's early literary influences (very notably a French boys' serial adventure story called "The Mysterious Valley," whose dashing hero, according to Ms. Heller, greatly influenced Rand's tastes in both real and fictitious men), Ms. Burns gets her out of Russia more hurriedly. Both books take her to California, and to the fishy story of how this young Russian ingénue, on only her second day in Hollywood, was plucked out of obscurity by Cecil B. DeMille, who cast her as an extra in "King of Kings." Ms. Heller's book does not let this fable go unquestioned. Ms. Burns doesn't do more than replay it; her primary interests lie elsewhere. So Ms. Heller provides the far more nuanced version of the strange dynamics between Rand and her husband, Frank O'Connor, whom she called "Cubbyhole." (He gave her the unlikeliest imaginable nickname for such a steel-willed woman: "Fluff.") Ms. Heller also provides a more evocative, detailed account of the long, duplicitous affair that Rand conducted with Nathaniel Branden, who began as a fan 25 years her junior and spent years as her foremost acolyte and officially anointed intellectual heir. Both books characterize Rand's long relationship with Branden as the most important connection in her life. And both use it to illustrate how drastically Rand's personal ties could rupture. The amphetamine-addicted, self-styled goddess in both books becomes so moody and volatile that her associates do not simply part ways with her. Some, like Branden and his wife, Barbara, wind up excommunicated. When Rand died, Heller reports, there were bodyguards at her funeral to keep the Brandens away if they tried to attend. Ms. Burns ignores that detail, preferring to cite the dollar-sign-shaped topiary that was part of the funeral décor. Crucially, both authors understand the reasons that Rand's popularity has endured, not only among college students dazzled (and thronged into packs) by her triumphant individualism but also by entrepreneurs. From the young Ted Turner, who rented billboards to promote the "Who is John Galt?" slogan from "Atlas Shrugged," to the founders of Craigslist and Wikipedia, who have found self-contradictory new ways to mix populism with individual enterprise, it is clear that (in Ms. Burns's words) "reports of Ayn Rand's death are greatly exaggerated." Ms. Burns gives a lucid account of how Rand set herself at odds with religious conservatism, how Rand-inspired libertarianism has shape-shifted, and even how Rand disciples of the 1970s adopted a hippie aspect to rival that of Students for a Democratic Society, confounding everyone, Rand included. She referred to libertarian fans as "scum," "intellectual cranks" and "plagiarists." Rand also complained, "If such hippies hope to make me their Marcuse, it will not work." That era was one Rand moment. This seems to be another. Both of these books cast light on why Rand's popularity can be rekindled by economic turmoil, and on how much her real life and reputation diverged. Both capture the temperament of a woman once described as "the Evel Knievel of leaping to conclusions." But of these two authors, it is Ms. Heller who comes closer to conveying what is missing from most images of Rand: "a personal warmth and charm that Rand most assuredly possessed," on the evidence of her hypnotic effect on those in her orbit. Rand might have expressed disdain for that charisma, but it was enough to stop DeMille in his tracks. She would have been nowhere without it. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Spoof biographies look to spoil Sarah Palin's book launch - The Guardian Posted: 21 Oct 2009 07:47 PM PDT  Double take ... the 'genuine' Sarah Palin biography, and the spoof. For those unable to stomach Sarah Palin's forthcoming "mom's-eye view of high-stakes national politics" Going Rogue, small US publisher OR Books has announced that it will bring out Going Rouge, an alternative view of the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, on the same day. Parodying the cover of Palin's memoir (subtitled An American Life), which sees a relaxed-looking Palin in front of a blue, cloud-strewn sky, Going Rouge (subtitled An American Nightmare) places Palin in front of thunderous clouds and lightning. The book – the title is a reference to the US newsreader who mistakenly called the autobiography Going Rouge – will see a series of contributors examine Palin's origins in Alaska, her rise in the Republican party, and "the nightmarish prospect of her continuing to dominate the nation's political scene", OR Books said. It will be published as a paperback and ebook on 17 November, the same day that Palin's hardback Going Rogue is due out. Another spoof, Going Rouge – The Sarah Palin Rogue Coloring and Activity Book by cartoonist Julie Sigwart and Micheal Stinson, is also out on 17 November. Featuring mazes ("Help Sarah find her way to the White House"; "Where in the world does domestic Alaskan oil go?"), puzzles and word games, the authors promise to "mercilessly lampoon and parody everything Palin in 48 pages of hilarity". "We are environmentally conscious folks, and consider her to be a total threat to ecosystems everywhere, a continuation of the abominable legacy of George W Bush, an epitome of the stereotypical 'Ugly American'," Stinson said by email today. He promised that their book "doesn't just have a buncha words, we've got pictures" too. AlBut whether either of the Going Rouge books will have any impact on Palin's sales is doubtful. Going Rogue, written in just four months for a reported $7m (£4.4m) advance, pushed Dan Brown's new novel The Lost Symbol off the top spot on Amazon.com's bestseller lists earlier this month, over six weeks before publication. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Amelia” and the Tucson 99s - Tucson Citizen Posted: 22 Oct 2009 07:50 AM PDT I was one of the lucky ones who saw a preview last night of "Amelia", the new Hilary Swank/Richard Gere movie about the life (and death at age 39) of pilot Amelia Earhart. In the audience were two rows of women pilots from the Tucson 99s, the local chapter of the International Organization of Women Pilots. Amelia Earhart was the founder and first President of this group, and was a leader in aviation education for women in America. As for the movie, it is based on two biographies of the rise to fame of Ms. Earhart, the first woman pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. She was also the first person in 1935 to fly solo over the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to California. The movie also chronicles her marriage to publicist George Putnam and her extra-marital affair with pilot Gene Vidal, an aviation pioneer.  Amelia Earhart Of course, the movie ends tragicly with the personnel on the U.S. Coast Guard ship Itasca losing radio contact with her and navigator Fred Noonan on board her plane Electra, 100 miles off Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean. She was trying to circumnavigate the globe. I grew up on Hawaii Island where there is a beautiful banyan tree in Hilo (on Banyan Drive), planted by Ms. Earhart herself back in the 1930's, before her disappearance on July 2, 1937. There have been stories circulating for years out in the Pacific about her demise, and today there are still reports of plane wreckage and possible possessions of hers being found on Nikumaroro (formerly Gardner Island). I recommend this movie about this legendary, courageous woman pilot and feminist, who believed in following her dreams, whose passion was flying. She wrote about the peaceful freedom she gained from flying, way up above the world. "Amelia" opens in movie theaters tomorrow. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Run-DMC set for Broadway musical? - NME Posted: 22 Oct 2009 06:46 AM PDT
Run DMC could be set to have heir songs and biographies translated into a Broadway show. Rev Run (aka Joseph Simmons) and DMC (aka Darryl McDaniels), the two surviving members of the seminal hip-hop group, are reportedly set for talks this week which could see their life story hit the stage. "I feel their story lends itself perfectly to the stage," producer Paula Wagner told Variety. "This project has been a passion of mine for some time and I couldn't be more thrilled to be working with them." Run DMC formed in 1984, but split in 2002 when Jam-Master Jay (aka Jason Mizell) was murdered.
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| Bell Aliant supports six athlete contenders as they make their bid for ... - CNW Group Posted: 22 Oct 2009 06:46 AM PDT Value Package Customers can win trips to see the 2010 Winter Games live! Bell Aliant is delighted to announce the names of the six Bell Aliant Contenders who will be making their bid to join the Canadian Olympic team for the Newfoundland and Labrador: Team Gushue - Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Ryan Fry, and Jamie Korab- Curling Nova Scotia: John Mattatall - Pairs Figure Skating New Brunswick: Patrick Côté - Biathlon Prince Edward Island: Mark Arendz - Para-Nordic Skiing (Cross-Country & Biathlon) Ontario: Amber Peterson - Freestyle Skiing Quebec: Francois-Louis Tremblay - Speed Skating "We are very proud of the six Bell Aliant contenders, especially of our very own Bell Aliant employee and Gold medalist from The six chosen Bell Aliant athlete contenders will continue to compete in their sports in the coming months to win their Olympic qualifying competitions and represent Bell Aliant also announced a promotion today where Value Package customers will have a chance to win one of two trips for two to the An inside look at the six athletes and ongoing coverage of many events leading up to the Winter Games can also be found on www.bellaliant.net. "These world-class athletes are talented ambassadors, representing six provinces in Bell Aliant is an Official Supporter of the Canadian Olympic Team from 2006-2012 and the Biographies for all Bell Aliant contenders are available on www.bellaliant.ca. Media representatives are encouraged to sign up for Bell Aliant News Alerts at www.bellaliant.ca. About Bell Aliant Bell Aliant (TSX: BA.UN) is one of North America's largest regional communications providers and an Official Supporter of the %SEDAR: 00023938EF For further information: Media Relations, Anna Peddle, Bell Aliant Public Affairs, (888) 818-6825, anna.peddle@bellaliant.caThis content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
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