Fiction

The Book of Ayn: A Novel

The Book of Ayn: A Novel

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2023-11-23 07:21:34
  • Update Date：2025-09-14
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Lexi Freiman
  • ISBN：1501241885
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Summary

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 the strangeness， absurdity， and hilarity of seeking meaning in the modern world。

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Reviews

Unsympathizer ，

[Rating and review forthcoming]

Nat ，

Jokes on me for thinking this would be interesting

Tina ，

I really enjoyed reading THE BOOK OF AYN by Lexi Freiman！ Right away the first line made me LOL！ This novel is funny！！ It’s about a thirty-something cancelled writer， Anna， who turns to the philosophy of Ayn Rand and leaves New York to go to Los Angeles to write a tv show based on Ayn。 I was drawn into this novel immediately and read it quickly in three days。 It was the perfect book to read in between some heavier books。 I enjoyed following Anna on her journey to exciting locations and meeting i I really enjoyed reading THE BOOK OF AYN by Lexi Freiman！ Right away the first line made me LOL！ This novel is funny！！ It’s about a thirty-something cancelled writer， Anna， who turns to the philosophy of Ayn Rand and leaves New York to go to Los Angeles to write a tv show based on Ayn。 I was drawn into this novel immediately and read it quickly in three days。 It was the perfect book to read in between some heavier books。 I enjoyed following Anna on her journey to exciting locations and meeting interesting characters。 It’s fun how she nicknamed all her lovers。 There were several hilarious lines including this insult “I’m going to give your book one star on Amazon。” I loved the humour in this book that touches on cancel culture， the literary world， social media， political culture， selfishness and loneliness。Thank you to Catapult for my gifted review copy！ 。。。more

Mikkel Rosengaard ，

“It’s called being an edgelord，” podcaster Dasha Nekrasova wrote in 2019， “and it’s the most honourable thing you can do with your life。” Nekrasova’s post-ironic call to arms reverberates through Lexi Freiman’s satirical novel The Book of Ayn， about a contrarian writer lost in the culture wars。 Who is the more honourable figure—the self-serving contrarian or the self-sacrificing puritan？The novel describes a woman’s witty journey 'Against the Grain'， as she explores the antithesis to the dominan “It’s called being an edgelord，” podcaster Dasha Nekrasova wrote in 2019， “and it’s the most honourable thing you can do with your life。” Nekrasova’s post-ironic call to arms reverberates through Lexi Freiman’s satirical novel The Book of Ayn， about a contrarian writer lost in the culture wars。 Who is the more honourable figure—the self-serving contrarian or the self-sacrificing puritan？The novel describes a woman’s witty journey 'Against the Grain'， as she explores the antithesis to the dominant Equity and Inclusion-mythos of our time: Ayn Rand’s rational egoism。 After the novelist Anna gets cancelled for being rich and classist， she finds herself socially adrift， and embarks on an ideological journey that pits selfishness against altruism。 Anna’s comical explorations take her and the reader to Los Angeles， where she attempts to write an animated tv-show starring “Ayn Ram”， while she spends her dad’s money and seduces guileless men half her age。The wicked and provocative figure Freiman describes in The Book of Ayn—the shameless， nihilistic， post-ironic woman—has become one of the main characters in post-pandemic American culture。 As the edgy foil to a dominant Millennial culture that is consensus-seeking， and often vengeful of anyone who breaks the moral code， the femtroll， or the female edgelord， is mischievous， provocative， and takes joy in transgressing social taboos。 As a cultural trickster figure， the contemporary edgelord has many parallels to the decadent dandy of the late 19th century。 They both rebell against a hypocritical， intolerant and often sanctimonious moral code， and like the decadent heroes Oscar Wilde and Joris-Karl Huysman， the heroine of The Book of Ayn also turns towards spirituality when her contrarian excesses fail her。In the final section of the The Book of Ayn， broke and ideologically lost， Anna joins a commune on Lesbos that supposedly practices self-sacrificing ego-death。 “The only choice left is between the muzzle of a pistol and the foot of the cross，” Barbey d’Aurevilly wrote in response to Huysman’s contrarian decadence in 'Against the Grain'。 With The Book of Ayn， Freiman calls for a middle path—not the way of the puritan， not the way of the edgelord， not the gun， not the cross。 But a recentered shrug， a “lol no”， a rejection of all extreme discourses。 。。。more

AM ，

Canceled for an irreverent， humorous take on the opioid epidemic and the working class， Anna becomes taken with the philosophies of Ayn Rand and decamps to California to work in TV and live out her new Rand-ian discoveries。Filled with humorous details and observations， this novel moves from the media and entertainment worlds of New York and Southern California to a commune in Europe to Athens。 It follows this woman’s efforts to grapple with social success and status， aging， sexuality， and her ow Canceled for an irreverent， humorous take on the opioid epidemic and the working class， Anna becomes taken with the philosophies of Ayn Rand and decamps to California to work in TV and live out her new Rand-ian discoveries。Filled with humorous details and observations， this novel moves from the media and entertainment worlds of New York and Southern California to a commune in Europe to Athens。 It follows this woman’s efforts to grapple with social success and status， aging， sexuality， and her own ego through various philosophies， from Ayn Randian glorification of the individual to a New Age meditation and focus on the present。The narrator's voice and intelligence are engaging， and interesting social details carry me through the first third of the novel， but at that point the plot begins to sag from lack of significant action。 Even though there are overall movements—the cancellation， emotions around a sexual relationship–and later， a move to a commune and a pregnancy—all of it is so filtered through and weighed down by the narrator’s intellectual analysis that I had trouble continuing to stay connected。 The writing and observations are clever and funny， and it is a clear aesthetic choice that reveals Anna’s internal world and personality， but at a certain point， I began to feel the novel would have been better cast as a series of personal essays （or perhaps fictional personal essays written by this character）。 The novel is smart and refreshing in its observations， so it could work for a reader who can be carried purely by the intellectual musings， but readers who need more action and narrative drama should look elsewhere。 。。。more

Blair ，

Tons of fun！ Imagine Aesthetica or The Odyssey but actually sharp and funny， with a sprinkling of the anarchic energy possessed by something like Come Join Our Disease。 A good balance of humour that can bite， and not always by punching up， but also has a soft core。 At times feels like an experiment in letting a female character behave like male characters once did （benefitting from the status of ‘artist’ despite repeatedly failing to create anything meaningful， chasing a succession of yo Tons of fun！ Imagine Aesthetica or The Odyssey but actually sharp and funny， with a sprinkling of the anarchic energy possessed by something like Come Join Our Disease。 A good balance of humour that can bite， and not always by punching up， but also has a soft core。 At times feels like an experiment in letting a female character behave like male characters once did （benefitting from the status of ‘artist’ despite repeatedly failing to create anything meaningful， chasing a succession of younger partners） – and you could argue the impact of that trope is blunted by the sheer amount of books about ‘messy women’ we’re drowning in nowadays but this is more acute I think， maybe because its concept （washed-up novelist gets obsessed with the work and philosophy of Ayn Rand， tries to apply it to her life and art） is hyperspecific， so there’s a hook to hang things on that doesn’t relate to a relationship/sex/being single/having or not having kids。 Or。。。 at least not entirely。 Also endlessly quotable; Freiman can write an observation that cuts like a knife。I received an advance review copy of The Book of Ayn from the publisher through Edelweiss。 。。。more

Cory Aitchison ，

Thanks to NetGally for the eARC。 The Book of Ayn was a delight to read， from start to finish。 Crass， funny， sharp， witty， bold， biting， surprising， and profound。 I loved Freiman’s humor and willingness to poke fun at virtually all kinds of people， and the final section was beautiful。 Her ability to simultaneously make fun of some larger aspects of mindfulness and meditation while still embracing the important core values is ultiamtely why I loved this book。 I also novels that aren’t afraid to be Thanks to NetGally for the eARC。 The Book of Ayn was a delight to read， from start to finish。 Crass， funny， sharp， witty， bold， biting， surprising， and profound。 I loved Freiman’s humor and willingness to poke fun at virtually all kinds of people， and the final section was beautiful。 Her ability to simultaneously make fun of some larger aspects of mindfulness and meditation while still embracing the important core values is ultiamtely why I loved this book。 I also novels that aren’t afraid to be funny。 。。。more

Nick Malone ，

"No one lives at the edge of calamity without secretly wishing to be destroyed。""I had written two books of over eighty thousand words each， and yet it was the single minute of ranting with the head of a sheep that had given me all the love and attention I’d ever craved。"The Book of Ayn is a very funny， very self-aware and VERY niche satire that will probably only resonate as something "real" to those who dwell in a particular corner of the Internet。 The experience of interacting with someone wh "No one lives at the edge of calamity without secretly wishing to be destroyed。""I had written two books of over eighty thousand words each， and yet it was the single minute of ranting with the head of a sheep that had given me all the love and attention I’d ever craved。"The Book of Ayn is a very funny， very self-aware and VERY niche satire that will probably only resonate as something "real" to those who dwell in a particular corner of the Internet。 The experience of interacting with someone who sees Ayn Rand as someone worth having feelings about AND as a figure who is a legitimate threat to civility and progressivism， is not as common as this novel's narrator assumes it to be。 Your ability to connect with this book will probably depend on your exposure to certain online phenomena: TikTok， deepfakes， Red Scare & their flankers， online critics being more famous than artists， Twitter microcelebrities。 The emotional center of the story-- whether it pays to be self-serving rather than self-sacrificing as we live through a very sacrificial moment in history-- can sometimes feel like a fake problem， a big "who cares。" I adored Freiman's sense of humor and pacing， and The Book of Ayn is strongest when looking outward and diagnosing the culture。 There are a lot of really outstanding lines in here about generational divides， the boringness of modernity， the stupid feedback loop of pop culture。 Freiman's narrator serves as a stand-in for a lot of familiar "edgy" Internet personalities-- people who can't help kicking hornets' nests then acting incredulous when they get stung。 It's very satisfying to see this impulse explored so plainly， and in such a funny way。 Freiman's weird， scatological imagery is so memorable in the first half of the book。Unfortunately， for me， once this book loses Ayn （and a fondness for her ideas）， it loses momentum。 The narrator abandons her research and creative process developing a Bojack-Horseman-style Ayn-Rand-inspired TV show after what I thought were some pretty tame negative responses from acquaintances; and flees to a culty， spiritual commune where the goal is ego death。 This makes The Book of Ayn feel like a different book entirely， like I was starting from scratch with a brand new character I knew almost nothing about。 It was hard to maintain interest in this narrator who seemed defined only by petty grievances and a self-destructive streak。 It doesn't help that the tone of the book seems to shift pretty dramatically once the commune is introduced-- introspective and vague， and not especially funny。 Nothing nearly as concretely expressed in the book's first half。 The narrator's pettiness and self-destructiveness is sort of the point of the entire novel-- and as the narrator makes more and more transparently stupid choices， you do feel that subconscious death drive that so many millennials/Gen Z's seem to have。 I just wish this very human idea was assigned to a character that felt more perceptive-- more Randian。 There's no real judgement on Rand's ideas by the end， and essentially a return to self-interested form for the narrator。 The second half of the book feels like a long， unnecessary diversion in this sense-- I found myself wishing she'd stuck to her guns and just MADE something， whether people liked it （or her） or not。 Still very much worth a read if you run in these circles or have felt worried about how nihilistic and "unreal" things are becoming。 Thanks to Catapult for the ARC <3 。。。more

Marissa Higgins ，

I really enjoyed this book！ It's funny and dark and wry and really smart。 The depressed and cool and vaguely alt girl who really wants to be accepted feels very in line with writers like Halle Butler and Mona Awad in a great way。 I think a basic familiarity with Ayn Rand's politics will help readers understand the humor/irony from the start， but the book does a really solid job of contextualizing so don't pass on the book if you aren't already familiar。 Ironically （or not？？） I can see this being I really enjoyed this book！ It's funny and dark and wry and really smart。 The depressed and cool and vaguely alt girl who really wants to be accepted feels very in line with writers like Halle Butler and Mona Awad in a great way。 I think a basic familiarity with Ayn Rand's politics will help readers understand the humor/irony from the start， but the book does a really solid job of contextualizing so don't pass on the book if you aren't already familiar。 Ironically （or not？？） I can see this being made into an A24 film。 Definitely a sad gross hot girl book in the best ways。 。。。more

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Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Book of Ayn: A Novel

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Book of Ayn: A Novel&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Book of Ayn: A Novel&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0