Books

Signed First Revised Edition of Ayn Rand's first novel, We the Living (New York: Random House, 1959). A fine copy in a very bright jacket. We the Living follows young Kira Argounova, as close to an autobiographical character as Ayn Rand ever created, from her arrival in St. Petersburg, excited about the "streets of a big city where so much is possible," to her death near the Latvian border, where she smiles "her last smile, to so much that had been possible." Her journey in between contrasts Kira's determined passion for living her life with the living death of the brutally collectivist state which impedes her escape. Originally published by Macmillan in 1936 (after twelve publishers rejected it), We the Living was Rand's fulfillment of a promise to a guest at her farewell party just before she left the Soviet Union. "One of the guests, a man whom Ayn knew only slightly, said to her, with the sudden, tense earnestness of desperation: "If they ask you in America—tell them that…

We the Living is the first novel published by the American author Ayn Rand. Originally completed in 1930, it was first published in 1936 by Macmillan Publishers. The novel is a depiction of life in post-revolutionary Russia and Rand’s criticism of the Soviet system. It follows the story of Kira Argounova, a young woman who struggles for her individuality in a collectivized society.

Early printings can be identified by the absence of additional printings listed, and they may contain a statement of 'First edition'.