The Fountainhead

"The Fountainhead" studies the conflict between artistic genius and social convention, a theme Ayn Rand later developed into the idealistic philosophy knows as Objectivism. Rand's hero is Howard Roark, a brilliant young architect who won't compromise his integrity, especially in the unconventional buildings he designs. Roark is engaged in ideological warfare with a society that despises him, an architectural community that doesn't understand him, and a woman who loves him but wants to destroy him. His struggle raises questions about society's attitude toward revolutionaries. Since this book's publication in 1943, Rand's controversial ideas have made her one of the best-selling authors of all time.

Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on February 2, 1905. During her high school years, she was witness to the Kerensky Revolution overthrowing the Czar, which she supported, and the Bolshevik Revolution instituting communism, which she opposed. During the Russian Civil War, Rand's family fled to the Crimea; once communist victory became incontestable, she returned, studying philosophy and history at the University of Petrograd. In late 1925, she obtained permission to visit the United States, determined never again to return to her native land. Working in Hollywood as an extra and a script reader, Any Rand met and married actor Frank O'Connor and began writing her first novel, the auto-biographical We, the Living, about her struggles under totalitarianism. That work, appearing in 1936 during the heyday of communism's popularity in the United States, was not at first a success. The Fountainhead, however, which was published in 1943, catapulted Rand to international fame. She further articulated its renowned themes in Atlas Shrugged (1957) and continued to promote her philosophy, which she called Objectivism, until her death in March 1982. To this day, all of her books remain in print and have sold over twenty million copies worldwide. Any Rand founded the Ayn Rand Institute in Los Angeles to carry on her legacy.