Out of a Gray Fog

Ayn Rand’s Europe

Claudia Franziska Bruhwiler

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2021
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781793636867
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: European Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

"As to Europe—keep it in a gray, ominous, evil fog."—Ayn Rand (1905–1982) thus commented on the role of Europe in her key novel, Atlas Shrugged (1957). The same could be said of the way Europe features in her own biography and in the general perception of her persona. Even though Rand was born in pre-revolutionary Russia, she is nowadays considered anAmerican phenomenon, whose reach ends at the Atlantic shore. This book lifts the "gray fog" cast over her relationship with Europe, retracing the changing perception of the continent in both her fiction and thought. Her apparent lack of success with European readers is often explained by allegedly different reading tastes. However, a look at her publication history and reception shows that many factors played a role why her work found fewer European than US readers. Finally, an archipelago of European readers and admirers emerges which is testament to Rand's impact on European art and politics.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: All-American Rand?
• 1 Writer, Philosopher, Icon, Dime-Store Ideologue? Categorizing Rand
• 2 Choosing America, Being European
• 3 “A Huge Cemetery”: Russia as Dystopia
• 4 Rand’s Europe: From Utopia to a “State-Worshipping Culture”
• 5 Kantian Evils and Aristotelian Misunderstandings: Randian Usage of European Philosophy
• 6 Lost in Translation: Publishing Rand in Europe
• 7 Tea Party Icon and Capitalist Porn: Rand in the European Media
• 8 A European Collective? Randian Thought across the Atlantic
• 9 Critical Reflections: Rand through the Lens of European Artists
• Conclusion
• Appendix: Novels and Other Writings by Ayn Rand
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author