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Ayn Rand's Early Novel 'Ideal' To Be Published After 80 Years

• http://blogs.wsj.com, By Jennifer Maloney

Ayn Rand, author of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead," invented the philosophy of Objectivism. More than 25 million copies of her novels have been sold around the world.

"Ideal" tells the story of a screen actress who is accused of murder and visits six of her most devoted fans to ask for help. In 1934, when she was in her late 20s, Rand first wrote "Ideal" as a work of fiction.

But Rand was dissatisfied with it and set it aside. The same year, she rewrote it as a play. The play didn't have its New York premiere until 2010 – 66 years after she wrote it.

The original version was rediscovered in 2012 by Richard Ralston, publishing manager at the Ayn Rand Institute, while digitizing the Rand archives. (At 135 pages, it's been called a novelette and a novella. The publisher is now billing it as a "short novel.")


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