An author rebounds from a devastating New York Times book review with the help of Ayn Rand in The Book of Ayn, the snarky sophomore outing from Lexi Freiman (Inappropriation). In this irreverent send-up of cancel culture, Anna's writing career takes a direct hit after "the paper of record" calls her darkly comic novel about the opioid epidemic in America "classist." Depressed by the rejection of her book, one she believes was "so good it metabolized its own badness," Anna discovers her baked-in contrarianism mirrored in the person and ideas of Russian émigré Ayn Rand, "the godmother of American libertarianism." Her uber-woke friends are less than supportive as Anna immerses herself in Randian thought. ("She's the devil: she literally wore capes.")
Anna, broke and wounded, is inspired by Rand's radical notions of self-esteem and plans a new book about her, a project that takes her from the Roarkian steel skyline of New York to Tinseltown itself, Los Angeles, to write a pilot about her muse. After a hilarious bathroom epiphany, however, Anna explores Rand's ideological nemesis--altruism--by joining a meditation center workshop on the island of Lesvos that promises to help "kill your ego." Freiman's prose, which is quirky and awkward at turns, skewers political culture with playful observations of members of Gen Z and their Rolodex of causes, peeling away labels to reveal the humans underneath. The Book of Ayn is a remarkably funny and thoughtful walk about the realm of ideas, the ideal man, and the ultimate "I" of self-love and self-acceptance. --Peggy Kurkowski, book reviewer and copywriter in Denver