Judgment Day: My Years with Ayn Rand

This article is about the Branden memoir. For other uses, see Judgment Day (disambiguation).

Judgment Day: My Years with Ayn Rand
Revised edition cover
Author(s)	Nathaniel Branden
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject(s)	Nathaniel Branden, Ayn Rand
Publisher	Houghton Mifflin (1st edition) Jossey Bass (revised edition)
Publication date	1989 (1st edition) 1999 (revised edition)
Media type	Print
ISBN	0-395-46107-3 (1st edition) 0-7879-4513-7 (revised edition)

Judgment Day: My Years with Ayn Rand is a memoir by Nathaniel Branden that focuses on his relationship with his former mentor and lover, Ayn Rand. It was originally published in 1989, and Branden released a revised version, retitled as My Years with Ayn Rand, in 1999.

Reception

In a review for The New York Times, Susan Brownmiller said the memoir was "an embarrassing venture" that included "a massive dose of psychobabble".^[1] In a review for National Review, Joseph Sobran described Branden as having "a layer of California psychobabble" and said, "At times he is rough on himself, but not nearly rough enough."^[2] A review in The (Toledo) Blade said the book offered "interesting glimpses of Ayn Rand and her life", but also said, "It is noticeable that in most situations Branden emerges on the side of right, or at least lesser evil."^[3]

Liberty magazine editor R.W. Bradford called the book a "valuable work" that "provides hitherto unpublished details" about Branden's relationship with Rand, but said it provided an "unflattering self-portrait" of Branden that made Bradford more sympathetic towards Rand. He also complained that Branden's discussions of his former associates in the Objectivist movement sometimes showed "cruelty" and "contempt" toward them.^[4]

The book was also reviewed in such publications as the Los Angeles Times,^[5] The Washington Post,^[6] Chronicles, and Kirkus Reviews.

Revised edition

In the 1999 revised edition, Branden says he updated the book both to add and remove material, as well as to correct "factual errors" and "unintended and misleading implications" from the first edition. He also hoped "to present a more balanced portrait of certain people with whom my relationships were at times adversarial."^[7]

References

1. ^ Brownmiller, Susan (June 25, 1989). "The Man Who Loved Ayn Rand". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/25/books/the-man-who-loved-ayn-rand.html?pagewanted=all. 
2. ^ Sobran, Joseph (August 4, 1989). "Book Reviews: Judgment Day: My Years with Ayn Rand". National Review. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n14_v41/ai_7813847/. 
3. ^ Ferguson, William (September 24, 1986). "Lovers dissolved in an intellectual volcano". The Blade (Toledo, Ohio): p. D-6. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9HwUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HwMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6911,4131919. 
4. ^ Bradford, R.W. (July 1989). "Who Is Nathaniel Branden?". Liberty 2 (6). http://libertyunbound.com/article.php?id=408. 
5. ^ Abrams, Garry (May 30, 1989). "Ayn Rand: Fountainhead of a New Fury". Los Angeles Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/66464553.html?dids=66464553:66464553&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT. 
6. ^ Freund, Charles Paul (September 10, 1989). "The Objectivists Of Their Affections". The Washington Post. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73897941.html?dids=73897941:73897941&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT. 
7. ^ Branden, Nathaniel (1999). My Years with Ayn Rand. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. p. viii. ISBN 0-7879-4513-7. OCLC 39391081. 

External links

• Booknotes interview with Branden on Judgment Day, July 2, 1989.