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What Ayn Rand Read

The books listed below are ones that Ayn Rand is either known to have read or may have read, based on her published reviews, annotations she made in the books, comments or references made in her articles, letters and journals, and materials auctioned from her estate. (For the plays, it is possible that she saw them performed instead of reading them.) In the "Details" column, each entry is coded with links to pop-up windows that illustrate Rand quoting (Q), commenting about (C), or referring to (R) that particular work. Where appropriate, additional notes (N) about the historical evidence are provided. For books whose text is freely available online, links are provided from the title.

Note: Not all of the pop-ups have been created. These entries will be expanded as time allows.

Non-fiction

Non-fiction that Rand read
Title	Author	References	Details
Born Free	Joy Adamson					N
Who Owns America?	Herbert Agar and Allen Tate (Editors)	Letters of Ayn Rand, 41		C		N
The complete works of Aristotle	Aristotle	Letters of Ayn Rand, 179, 227 The Passion of Ayn Rand, 192			R
A Gift of Wings	Richard Bach					N
Jonathan Livingston Seagull	Richard Bach					N
Science and the Planned State	John R. Baker	Letters of Ayn Rand, 253 Journals of Ayn Rand, 320		C		N
Irrational Man	William Barrett	"Don't Let It Go," Philosophy: Who Needs It, 211	Q
Eco-Hysterics and the Technophobes	Petr Beckmann					N
Whispered Anecdotes	Petr Beckmann (Translator)					N
Highball: A Pagaent of Trains	Lucius Beebe					N
High Iron: A Book of Trains	Lucius Beebe					N
Trains in Transition	Lucius Beebe					N
Inside the Soviet Empire	Nora Beloff					N
Reason and Goodness	Brand Blanshard	Letters of Ayn Rand, 629-630			R
Building to the Skies	Alfred C. Bossom	Journals of Ayn Rand, 129-132	Q	C
How to Look at Buildings	Darcy Braddell	Journals of Ayn Rand, 125
Architecture and Democracy	Claude Bragdon	Journals of Ayn Rand, 128
Architecture and Modern Life	Baker Brownell and Frank Lloyd Wright					N
Government Against the People	Asher Brynes					N
Fifth Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities	California Legislature					N
At Random	Bennett Cerf					N
The Life of the Party	Bennett Cerf					N
Reading for Pleasure	Bennett Cerf					N
Try and Stop Me	Bennett Cerf					N
The Incredible Ivar Kreuger	Allen Churchill	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 202
Backstairs: Mission in Moscow	Charles Ciliberti					N
How We Live	Fred G. Clark and Richard Stanton					N
Contemporary American Architects: Ralph Adams Cram, Cram and Ferguson	Ralph Adam Cram, Arthur T. North (Editor)	Journals of Ayn Rand, 159
Architectural Composition	N.C. Curtis	Journals of Ayn Rand, 160
The School and Society	John Dewey	"The Comprachicos," The New Left, 207	Q
Conceptual Foundations of Business	Richard Eels and Clarence Walton					N
The Decline of American Liberalism	Arthur A. Ekirch	"The Roots of War," Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 41 "The Intellectual Bankruptcy of Our Age," The Voice of Reason, 89-90	Q	C
Railroading from the Head End	S. Kip Farrington, Jr.					N
Railroading from the Rear End	S. Kip Farrington, Jr.					N
Ten Thousand Commandments	Harold Fleming	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 189-192 "America's Persecuted Minority: Big Business," Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 50-52 Review, The Objectivist Newsletter, April 1962				N
Gasoline Prices and Competition	Harold Fleming					N
States, Contracts and Progress	Harold Fleming					N
Essays in Conceptual Analysis	Anthony Flew (Editor)					N
The Road Ahead: America's Creeping Revolution	John T. Flynn					N
This Little Band of Prophets	Anne Fremantle	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 175-176
A History of Philosophy	B.A.G. Fuller	Letters of Ayn Rand, 179			R	N
The Psychology of Dictatorship	G.M. Gilbert					N
The Unity of Philosophical Experience	Etienne Gilson	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 37-39
Boot Straps	Tom Girdler					N
The Right to Work	Tom Girdler	Letters of Ayn Rand, 81
Lillian Gish: The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me	Lillian Gish with Ann Pinchot	Review, The Objectivist, November 1969				N
The Conscience of a Conservative	Barry Goldwater	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 183-188 Letters of Ayn Rand, 565-571
Thomas Hastings, Architect	David Gray	Journals of Ayn Rand, 135
Teaching Montessori in the Home	Elizabeth Hainstock	Ayn Rand Answers, 173		C
The Road of the Century	Alvin F. Harlow	"Notes on the History of American Free Enterprise," Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 106
Remember These Things	Paul Harvey					N
The Road to Serfdom	Friedrich Hayek	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 145-160
Economics in One Lesson	Henry Hazlitt	Letters of Ayn Rand, 331
The Foundations of Morality	Henry Hazlitt					N
A New Constitution Now	Henry Hazlitt					N
On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music	Hermann von Helmholtz	"Art and Cognition," The Romantic Manifesto, 56-61	Q
This Fascinating Railroad Business	Robert S. Henry	Journals of Ayn Rand, 549
Der Nationalsozialismus Dokumente 1933-1945	Walther Hofer (Editor)	"The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus," Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 220
The Story of American Railroads	Stewart H. Holbrook	"Notes on the History of American Free Enterprise," Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 103, 106-107
Contemporary American Architects: Raymond M. Hood	Raymond M. Hood, Arthur T. North (Editor)	Journals of Ayn Rand, 159
Human Conduct	John Hospers	Letters of Ayn Rand, 504, 562
An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis	John Hospers	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 62-80 Letters of Ayn Rand, 503
Brain-Washing in Red China	Edward Hunter	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 177-178				N
How to Think Creatively	Eliot Hutchinson	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 59-61
Portraits of Thirty Authors	Leonebel Jacob					N
Manifesto for the Atomic Age	Virgil Jordon	Letters of Ayn Rand, 254
Contemporary American Architects: Ely Jacques Kahn	Ely Jacques Kahn, Arthur T. North (Editor)	Journals of Ayn Rand, 156				N
The Fifth Column in Washington	Joseph P. Kamp					N
Critique of Pure Reason	Immanuel Kant	"An Untitled Letter," Philosophy: Who Needs It, 117		C
Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals	Immanuel Kant, R. P. Wolff (Editor)	"Causality Versus Duty," Philosophy: Who Needs It, 96-97	Q
East Minus West = Zero	Werner Keller	"The Roots of War"
I Chose Freedom	Victor Kravchenko					N
The Unrelenting War	Suzanne Labin					N
I Saw Poland Betrayed	Arthur Lane	Letters of Ayn Rand, 391
The Discovery of Freedom	Rose Wilder Lane					N
Towards a New Architecture	"Le Corbusier"	Journals of Ayn Rand, 134
The Abolition of Man	C.S. Lewis	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 90-94
The Deep Ditch and the Narrow Pit	Ida Lewis					N
The Big Four	Oscar Lewis	"Notes on the History of American Free Enterprise," Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal,
Grand Central	David Marshall	"Notes on the History of American Free Enterprise," Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 106
The Language of Dissent	Lowell Mason	Review, The Objectivist Newsletter, August 1963 Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 199-201
The Humanist in the Bathtub	Mary McCarthy					N
The What, Why, and How of American Free Enterprise	C.W. McKee (Editor)					N
On Liberty	John Stuart Mill	"An Untitled Letter," Philosophy: Who Needs It, 114		C
Bureaucracy	Ludwig von Mises	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 142-144
Human Action	Ludwig von Mises	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 105-141
Omnipotent Government	Ludwig von Mises	Letters of Ayn Rand, 260, 308 "The Intellectual Bankruptcy of Our Age," The Voice of Reason, 96
Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind Letters: 1936-1949	Margaret Mitchell, Richard Harwell (Editor)					N
Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook	Maria Montessori	"The Comprachicos," The New Left, 196	Q
American Pragmatism: Peirce, James, & Dewey	Edward C. Moore	Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, 1-2.	Q
Sticks and Stones	Lewis Mumford	Journals of Ayn Rand, 122
A History of Our Country	David Muzzey	Letters of Ayn Rand, 451
The Antitrust Laws of the U.S.A.	A.D. Neale	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 193-198
Beyond Good and Evil	Friedrich Nietzsche	Journals of Ayn Rand, 77, 219 Introduction to The Fountainhead, x
The Birth of Tragedy	Friedrich Nietzsche	"Apollo and Dionysus," The New Left, 57-58
The Genealogy of Morals	Friedrich Nietzsche	Journals of Ayn Rand, 219
Thus Spake Zarathustra	Friedrich Nietzsche	The Art of Non-Fiction, 121 Letters of Ayn Rand, 175 Journals of Ayn Rand, 41-42, 187, 219
Memoirs of a Superfluous Man	Albert Jay Nock					N
The Revolt of the Masses	Jose Ortega y Gasset	Journals of Ayn Rand, 70
British Socialism Is Destroying British Freedom	Cecil Palmer					N
The God of the Machine	Isabel Paterson	Review, The Objectivist Newsletter, October 1964 Letters of Ayn Rand, 78, 84-85, 90, 101-104, 116, 171, 187, 200, 465 "The Roots of War," Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 39				N
Immanuel Kant: His Life and Doctrine	Friedrich Paulsen	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 40-46 "From the Horse's Mouth," Philosophy: Who Needs It
The Republic	Plato	Letters of Ayn Rand, 222, 394
The Adventures of a Happy Man	Channing Pollock	Letters of Ayn Rand, 53				N
Harvest of My Years	Channing Pollock	Letters of Ayn Rand, 51				N
The ABC of Architecture	Matlock Price	Journals of Ayn Rand, 117
Aristotle	John Herman Randall	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 9-34 Letters of Ayn Rand, 608 Review, The Voice of Reason, 6-12
Communication, Organization, and Science	Jerome Rothstein	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 47-58
The Romance of Reality	Leonard Read					N
The Roosevelt Record in Red!	Republican National Committee					N
The Philosophy of Restraint	Indira Rothermund					N
Poverty Is Where the Money Is	Shirley Scheibla	Review, The Objectivist, August 1969 "Tax Credits for Education," The Voice of Reason, 250				N
Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior	Helmut Schoeck	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 95-99				N
Frank Lloyd Wright	Vincent Scully					N
How Can Europe Survive	Hans Sennholz	Letters of Ayn Rand, 582			R
Communism and the Conscience of the West	Fulton Sheen	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 179-182 Letters of Ayn Rand, 203, 205, 391				N
The Elements of Politics	Henry Sidgwick	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 86-89
Beyond Freedom and Dignity	B.F. Skinner	"The Stimulus and the Response," Philosophy: Who Needs It
Capitalism the Creator	Carl Snyder	Letters of Ayn Rand, 582
Sensory Deprivation	Philip Solomon, et al. (Editors)	"Our Cultural Value-Deprivation," The Voice of Reason, 103	Q
The Strategy of Great Railroads	Frank H. Spearman	"Notes on the History of American Free Enterprise," Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 107
The Man Versus the State	Herbert Spencer					N
The Concept of Morals	W.T. Stace	Letters of Ayn Rand, 603		C
Skyscrapers and the Men Who Build Them	W.A. Starrett	Journals of Ayn Rand, 117
The Ego and Its Own	Max Stirner	Letters of Ayn Rand, 175
None Dare Call It Treason	John A. Stormer					N
The Russian Tradition	Tibor Szamuely					N
The Manufacture of Madness	Thomas Szasz					N
Modern Architecture	Bruno Taut	Journals of Ayn Rand, 157
Escape from the Soviets	Tatiana Tchernavin	Letters of Ayn Rand, 10
The Tragic Sense of Life	Miguel de Unamuno	Letters of Ayn Rand, 118
Last Chance in China	Freda Utley					N
The Blue Book of the John Birch Society	Robert Welch					N
Ramses to Rockefeller	C.H. Whitaker	Journals of Ayn Rand, 126
Economic Geography	R.H. Whitbeck and V.C. Finch	Journals of Ayn Rand, 483				N
The Organization Man	William H. Whyte	The Ayn Rand Column, 112		C
A History of Philosophy, vol. 1	Wilhelm Windelband	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 35-36
W.R. Hearst, An American Phenomenon	John K. Winkler	Journals of Ayn Rand, 193
Living Architecture	Arthur Woltersdorf	Journals of Ayn Rand, 122
While Rome Burns	Alexander Woollcott	Journals of Ayn Rand, 73
An Autobiography	Frank Lloyd Wright	Journals of Ayn Rand, 118				N
The Disappearing City	Frank Lloyd Wright	Journals of Ayn Rand, 162
Frank Lloyd Wright on Architecture	Frank Lloyd Wright, Frederick Gutheim (Editor)					N
Genius and the Mobocracy	Frank Lloyd Wright					N
Modern Architecture	Frank Lloyd Wright	Journals of Ayn Rand, 156
When Democracy Builds	Frank Lloyd Wright	Letters of Ayn Rand, 115				N
My Father Who Is on Earth	Lloyd Wright	Letters of Ayn Rand, 262

Fiction and Poetry

Fiction and poetry that Rand read
Title	Author	Reference	Details
The Valley	Morgan Ash					N
Ballade in G Minor	Ethel Boileau					N
Cartwheels	Roger Burlingame					N
Behind Dark Spaces	Melville Cane					N
The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll	Lewis Carroll					N
Don Quixote	Miguel de Cervantes	Ayn Rand Answers, 201		C
The Children's Story	James Clavell					N
Nobel House	James Clavell					N
Play Parade	Noel Coward					N
By Love Possessed	James Gould Cozzens	The Art of Fiction, 116-121 Ayn Rand Answers, 206	Q
How to Become Extinct	Will Cuppy					N
How to Be a Hermit	Will Cuppy					N
A Stranger and Afraid	Gwen Davenport	Letters of Ayn Rand, 98		C
Life Invited Me	Adele DeLeeuw					N
Seven Gothic Tales	Isak Dinesen	The Art of Fiction, 125-127	Q
The Brothers Karamazov	Fyodor Dostoevsky	The Romantic Manifesto, 114
Crime and Punishment	Fyodor Dostoevsky	The Romantic Manifesto, 88
An American Tragedy	Theodore Dreiser	The Romantic Manifesto, 85
The Count of Monte Cristo	Alexandre Dumas	Letters of Ayn Rand, 645
Moonraker	Ian Fleming	Ayn Rand Answers, 214
The Miracle Worker	William Gibson	"Kant Versus Sullivan," Philosophy: Who Needs It, 90-93
The Maltese Falcon	Dashiell Hammett	Letters of Ayn Rand, 43
The Scarlet Letter	Nathaniel Hawthorne	The Art of Fiction, 146 Ayn Rand Answers, 196-197
The Great Idea (Time Will Run Back)	Henry Hazlitt	Ayn Rand's Marginalia, 161-170
A Farewell to Arms	Ernest Hemingway	Ayn Rand Answers, 202-203 The Passion of Ayn Rand, 101
For Whom the Bell Tolls	Ernest Hemingway	Ayn Rand Answers, 202-203
Les Miserables	Victor Hugo	The Art of Fiction, 18 Ayn Rand Answers, 188
The Man Who Laughs	Victor Hugo	The Art of Fiction, 114 "The Compachicos," The New Left, 187-189
Ninety-Three	Victor Hugo	Review, The Ayn Rand Column "Introduction to Ninety-Three," The Romantic Manifesto
Notre-Dame de Paris	Victor Hugo	The Art of Fiction, 35, 38-42, 73-74, 98-105
Please Don't Eat the Daisies	Jean Kerr	The Art of Fiction, 167
The Bees and Flowers	Frederick Kohner and Albert Mannheimer					N
Coronet	Manuel Komroff					N
Let the Hurricane Roar	Rose Wilder Lane					N
A Kiss Before Dying	Ira Levin	The Romantic Manifesto, 121
Arrowsmith	Sinclair Lewis	The Art of Fiction, 60-62, 71, 75-76, 79-83, 112-114, 138	Q			N
Babbitt	Sinclair Lewis	The Art of Fiction, 15			R
Dodsworth	Sinclair Lewis	The Art of Fiction, 138	Q			N
It Can't Happen Here	Sinclair Lewis	"The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus," Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 218 "What is Romanticism," The Romantic Manifesto, 109 Ayn Rand Answers, 200		C	R
Main Street	Sinclair Lewis	The Art of Fiction, 18
Barometer Rising	Hugh MacLennan	Letters of Ayn Rand, 123
The Magic Mountain	Thomas Mann	The Passion of Ayn Rand, 101
Oh, Doctor	Walt Marsh					N
Love Letters	Christopher Massie	Letters of Ayn Rand, 231
Seven Footprints to Satan	Abraham Merritt	The Art of Fiction, 171
Calumet 'K'	Samuel Merwin and Henry Webster	Journals of Ayn Rand, 10 Letters of Ayn Rand, 251 "Introduction to Calumet 'K'," The Objectivist, October 1967
Gone With the Wind	Margaret Mitchell	The Art of Fiction, 15 Ayn Rand Answers, 187		C
Animal Farm	George Orwell					N
1984	George Orwell	The Art of Fiction, 169
The Browning Version	Terence Rattigan	Ayn Rand Answers, 198-199
The Winslow Boy	Terence Rattigan	Ayn Rand Answers, 198
Separate Tables	Terence Rattigan	Ayn Rand Answers, 198
Grim Grow the Lilacs	M.F. Rodell	Letters of Ayn Rand, 123
Cyrano de Bergerac	Edmond Rostand	Ayn Rand Answers, 196		C
The Maid of Orleans	Friedrich Schiller	Ayn Rand Answers, 215
Mary Stuart	Friedrich Schiller	Ayn Rand Answers, 215
Ivanhoe	Walter Scott	The Art of Fiction, 157		C
The Crying Sisters	Mabel Seeley	Letters of Ayn Rand, 220
Hamlet	William Shakespeare	The Art of Fiction, 80		C
Julius Ceasar	William Shakespeare	The Passion of Ayn Rand, 45
King Lear	William Shakespeare	The Art of Fiction, 80		C
Macbeth	William Shakespeare	The Passion of Ayn Rand, 45
Othello	William Shakespeare	The Art of Fiction, 80		C
Frankenstein	Mary Shelley	The Art of Fiction, 170
Quo Vadis	Henryk K. Sienkiewicz	The Art of Fiction, 146
Held for Orders	Frank H. Spearman	Journals of Ayn Rand, 4
Day of the Guns	Mickey Spillane	Review, The Objectivist Newsletter, October 1964
The Girl Hunters	Mickey Spillane	Letters of Ayn Rand, 600 "Mickey Spillane," The Ayn Rand Column, 36-37
The Long Wait	Mickey Spillane	"Mickey Spillane," The Ayn Rand Column, 36
One Lonely Night	Mickey Spillane	The Art of Fiction, 132-134 "Mickey Spillane," The Ayn Rand Column, 36 "Basic Principles of Literature," The Romantic Manifesto, 95
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	Robert Louis Stevenson	The Art of Fiction, 169
Gulliver's Travels	Jonathan Swift	The Art of Fiction, 168
The One-Track Mind	Deems Taylor (Translator)					N
Anna Karenina	Leo Tolstoy	The Art of Fiction, 18-20, 72-73, 175 "What Is Romanticism?" The Romantic Manifesto, 116
War and Peace	Leo Tolstoy	The Romantic Manifesto, 118
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea	Jules Verne					N
The War of the Worlds	H.G. Wells	The Art of Fiction, 170
The Song of Bernadette	Franz Werfel	The Art of Fiction, 171
The Importance of Being Ernest	Oscar Wilde	The Art of Fiction, 168
Star Money	Kathleen Winsor	The Art of Fiction, 114-115
Of Time and the River	Thomas Wolfe	The Art of Fiction, 105-111
The Web and the Rock	Thomas Wolfe	The Art of Fiction, 134-137 "Basic Principles of Literature," The Romantic Manifesto, 95-96
Angel Without Wings	Martha Ellen Wright					N

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