Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating story re-told.
Review: Readers should note that this book is a revised edition of Branden's 1989 memoir "Judgment Day". While it claims to be 'substantially revised', the revisions are not all *that* substantial. The many stylistic changes do make the book read better, and some less relevant sections have been deservedly excised. Primarily, the book is altered so that Branden's associates from the period covered by the book are shown in somewhat more positive light. Allan Blumenthal, for instance, is no longer a quite conventional mama's boy; Barbara Branden is less clingy and shows up as a more autonomous individual. Her numerous affairs reported in the first edition are trimmed to a much smaller number. Surprisingly, Barbara Branden is reported to have developed the concept 'psycho-epistemology', perhaps the key to Rand's aesthetics. This single fact should end any notion that Objectivism is all the ideas that Ayn Rand came up with and nothing else. Nathaniel Branden is less self-aggrandizing in this edition, and he takes more of the blame for his failed first marriage and the personal disaster for many Objectivists which he helped cause. The portrait of Ayn Rand herself is little changed, which would make us wonder why bother with the second edition until we remember that this is not a biography of Rand but a memoir by Branden. All in all, the book tells a fascinating story, and tells it rather better and more fairly than the first edition. But the changes, while interesting, are generally not radical and readers of the first edition should bear this in mind before they buy the current version. Those who have not read the first edition should definitely find this book of interest; it tells the very self-conscious story of a man, three women, loves of people, ideas, and their interrelationships, and how a something like a cult is formed and destroyed.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating story re-told.
Review: Readers should note that this book is a revised edition of Branden's 1989 memoir "Judgment Day". While it claims to be 'substantially revised', the revisions are not all *that* substantial. The many stylistic changes do make the book read better, and some less relevant sections have been deservedly excised. Primarily, the book is altered so that Branden's associates from the period covered by the book are shown in somewhat more positive light. Allan Blumenthal, for instance, is no longer a quite conventional mama's boy; Barbara Branden is less clingy and shows up as a more autonomous individual. Her numerous affairs reported in the first edition are trimmed to a much smaller number. Surprisingly, Barbara Branden is reported to have developed the concept 'psycho-epistemology', perhaps the key to Rand's aesthetics. This single fact should end any notion that Objectivism is all the ideas that Ayn Rand came up with and nothing else. Nathaniel Branden is less self-aggrandizing in this edition, and he takes more of the blame for his failed first marriage and the personal disaster for many Objectivists which he helped cause. The portrait of Ayn Rand herself is little changed, which would make us wonder why bother with the second edition until we remember that this is not a biography of Rand but a memoir by Branden. All in all, the book tells a fascinating story, and tells it rather better and more fairly than the first edition. But the changes, while interesting, are generally not radical and readers of the first edition should bear this in mind before they buy the current version. Those who have not read the first edition should definitely find this book of interest; it tells the very self-conscious story of a man, three women, loves of people, ideas, and their interrelationships, and how a something like a cult is formed and destroyed.
Rating: 
Summary: Thoroughly Refuted
Review: Recent scholarship has demonstrated the complete dishonesty of this work (and its earlier version) and its historical unreliability.
Rating: 
Summary: Where it all began!!
Review: Right now, there is an Ayn Rand explosion. Not only is Rand slowly gaining steam amongst academic thinkers, she is all over popular culture. There has been two successful fims ('The Passion of Ayn Rand' based on Barbara Branden's biography and the Oscar noiminated 'Ayn Rand: a Sense of Life.') Both the Ayn Rand Institute and the Objectivist Center- think-tanks devoted to Ayn Rand's objectivism- are experiencing huge popularity. Heck, today- Aug. 26, 02- C-SPAN will re-air the Ayn Rand episode of their American Writers series. The viewer request was through the roof. So why, with all her idiosyncratic views, can't we seem to get enough? This biography goes a long way in answering that question. Nathaniel Branden, Rand's first 'intellectual heir', takes us on his journey with this enigmatic figure, Rand. From when they first met- he as a college student, she as the successful author of the Fountainhead- to thier intellectual partership and ultimately thier misguided affair. The most interesting part of the book, I feel, is the cacophonic break between Branden and Rand, forcing Branden to reevaluate his life and principles. It would've been easy for Branden, now a successful psychologist, to handle this book badly. It could've wound up being a bitter memoir about what some have called a 'cult'. Or, it could've centered on a philosophical diatribe of Randian thought. Fortunately, it does neither. It is written almost as fiction. The players, even those Branden clearly doesn't like, are treated with respect and empathy. He also writes with remarkable honesty- clearly a sign of a man who's given much time to self-reflection. Yes, there are spots where Branden does get down on Rand. Her philosophy is also touched on, in part. None of this, however, is induldged in to a fault. What we get is the story of a man in a unique, magnanimous, and ultimately life-defining situation. This is one of the few books I've read that I found perfectly enjoyable- emotionally and intelectually- from beginning to end. Also read 'Confessions of a Philosopher" by Bryan Mcgee.
Rating:
Summary: Purchase the unbearable a cherry tree!
Review: Some parts of this book are quite moving; others are shallowand trivial. Large swatches of the book read like the world's most elaborate personal Web page - the kind with high school girlfriends. Yes, some of it is quite well rendered. But more often, the sad events of Branden's life seem to be playing a secondary role; what remains in the foreground is the narrative voice of Rand - insistent, yammering, demanding to be loved, admired, recognized as a genius and a saint (or at least as a person whose flaws must be tolerated because she has endured great sadness). Some characters criticize Rand, but in words that sound like the Branden's own thoughts - a device for preempting criticism that should be familiar to anyone who's seen a Woody Allen movie. Near the end of the book, Branden tells one such character, "Shut up." It's what's wrong with the book. But, then I am the biggest sceptic and I analyze everything to the nth degree; and this book really opened my eyes to patterns in my own life and mistakes I've made in relationships. It is an excellent book for married as well as single people contemplating marriage. This book shows us that certain bad things happen in our lives that makes us wonder and ask the question "WHY?". And this book helps us how to deal with that question, and helps us accept those things and move on. I hate my parents. I hated my childhood.
Rating:
Summary: Another side of a famous story about love and betrayal
Review: The story of Ayn Rand's relationship with her young disciple Branden and the explosion that resulted from their break-up is fairly well-known. The versions of "what really happened" floated around first in rumor on college campuses in the 70's, then several books came out. One by Barbara Branden, ex-wife of Nathaniel, was made into a lurid TV piece. "My Years with Ayn Rand" is the story from Nathaniel Branden's side, which is as close as we can get to the "horse's mouth" about what really happened. "Everyone lies about sex" is a kind of truism, and Branden really tries to be as honest as he can in this story of what has to be some really painful moments in his life. He describes the famous "get that bastard down here" scene, when Ayn finds out he's having a relationship with a younger woman. However, despite Branden's credentials as a psychologist, he wastes little space other than a sentence or two, on analysing what really bothered Ayn about Nathaniel; her own romantic fantasies were crushed when she could no longer compete with women closer to Nathaniel's own age (some 25 years her junior.) The inevitable crash comes when Rand had to face her feelings of inadequacy in the feminine realm (beauty, youth.) And Branden, driven out of the Objectivist movement, had plenty of other pain to deal with. This is what makes the story so human and interesting. Part of what limits this book is Branden's unwillingness to be brutally frank about his real feelings about some of the players in this drama. Since most of the "Collective" (Rand's circle of associates and disciples) are still alive, and since at least one of them is a powerful, influential man, Branden seems to soft-pedal his opinions about their actions and intellect. It's his insider opinions I was interested in, and these are only hinted at, probably for good reason. Nonetheless, this is a great book to read about Rand and her associates, and a very disappointing turn of events that nearly destroyed the entire success Rand had achieved. A telling morality tale about mixing romantic fantasy with reality and ignoring what turn out to be practical rules for running personal relationships and marriage. Branden does learn from these events, but leaves it to the reader to figure out why.
Rating:
Summary: Reminds me of Family
Review: The theme that I found over and over again throughout the relationship between Rand and Branden is the almost dual roles Rand played in Branden's life before the split. Her obvious ability to manipulate his self-respect reminds me of a parent being able to manipulate a child, but once their relationship became intimate, her power over his self-respect appeared to wane without totally evaporating. Branden seemed to have been raised to level of a father where Rand was the mother of the 'Collective'. The vitriol that was thrown about without consideration was almost stereotypical in that everyone was expected to immediately forgive the venom without repurcussion, and the receiver of the venom was perceived as a bad person for being offended, especially if the venom came from 'Mom' or 'Dad'. When the divorce came, all the children were forced to choose sides, and it was strange to see how some people who initially were on one side wound up on the other, remarkably like a divorce as well. Mr. Branden is remarkably harsh on himself, but I got a strong sense of restraint in his commentary with regard to others who were involved. There's still a large measure of bad feelings over much of what happened, apparently on both sides. The only time I got the sense of true anger from Mr. Branden was in a small section describing how Peikoff published Rand's personal journals. Mr. Branden apparently viewed it as a personal betrayal of Rand for Peikoff to do so, which perhaps it was, but that was only time I got the sense of seeing Mr. Branden's true feelings come through. The only true complaint I have about the book is technical as opposed content. Mr. Branden seemed intent on relating the forces that led to 'Judgement Day'. Mr. Branden would move to different points in the timeline to describe thse forces. Because of this, I lost track of the chronology of the events at several points. Its unfortunate that Objectivism was so severely damaged by this twisting of roles and personality conflicts, but in the long run if Objectivism is to become a true force, which I hope and believe it can be, the value of the ideas will overcome the personality clashes. All in all a wonderful book, and even someone is not interested in Objectivism, this could be an interesting study of how some families can work.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Fiction
Review: There is no "mystery" to Rand's life. She has written volumes about all her ideas and her character. Branden has very little intellectual capacity left and does not even embrace Objectivism, but tries to undermine reason, virtue and value in the name of "Objectivism".
This book is one of the worst works of fiction I have ever read. If you want to know about Rand's life read Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, or for non-fiction; Capitalism The Unknown Ideal, The Romantic Manifesto, The Virtue of Selfishness or Objectivism:The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. For more reading pick up any of her articles written for the New York Times.
It is frightening that a person that has been removed from Rand's life because she discovered him to be without virtue and a liar can then claim to "know" her better than anyone and that others would want to read his book and take it as Truth.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Fiction
Review: There is no "mystery" to Rand's life. She has written volumes about all her ideas and her character. Branden has very little intellectual capacity left and does not even embrace Objectivism, but tries to undermine reason, virtue and value in the name of "Objectivism".
This book is one of the worst works of fiction I have ever read. If you want to know about Rand's life read Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, or for non-fiction; Capitalism The Unknown Ideal, The Romantic Manifesto, The Virtue of Selfishness or Objectivism:The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. For more reading pick up any of her articles written for the New York Times.
It is frightening that a person that has been removed from Rand's life because she discovered him to be without virtue and a liar can then claim to "know" her better than anyone and that others would want to read his book and take it as Truth.
Rating:
Summary: My Life and Many Loves by Nathaniel Branden
Review: This book assumes that you are vastly interested in Ayn Rand, and therefore will find the life and many loves of her close associate and former lover, Nathaniel Branden, of compelling interest. Ayn Rand, in this memoir, comes across as a monster of narcissism and megalomania. Branden himself seems highly self-absorbed and almost equally arrogant. At one point, he juggles three women simultaneously, his wife, his current mistress, and his former mistress (Rand), and while it exacts a toll, he seems to revel in being the romantic focus of three women. Branden cannot conceive that we may not consider his love life as fascinating as he does. The many cozy pictures of himself and his various wives and inamorata over the years do tend to cloy. While he throws in a lot of high-minded philosophical language, with words like "psychoepistemology" and "social metaphysics" popping up regularly, at heart, this is a "bed and tell" memoir. Curiously, Branden often describes past friends and acquaintances with gratuitous cruelty. His second wife's sister, upon slight acquaintance, is dismissed contemptuously. A member of Rand's circle, a philosophy student (and Branden's eventual replacement as Rand's "intellectual heir"), is depicted as a nerd and a vacillator. Is this designed to settle scores? What is the point of all this malice? If this memoir is designed to show how Branden has matured and repented after 18 years as Rand's chief acolyte, it actually reveals that he has learned little and changed hardly at all.
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