Keeping It Real: Bringing Ideas Down to Earth

Ayn Rand’s heroic vision of man as a rational, noble, productive being has inspired millions of people. It can be difficult, though, to grasp just how her ideas, universal and abstract as they are, can serve as a practical and specific guide to everyday life. KEEPING IT REAL: BRINGING IDEAS DOWN TO EARTH offers invaluable advice on how to apply broad philosophical principles to the real-world decisions we have to make every day. In this book, Leonard Peikoff, Ayn Rand’s longtime friend and heir, provides a wealth of practical counsel on personal relationships, child-rearing, career problems, politics, sex, and many other topics. His answers to hundreds of questions—taken from the first five years of his former podcast—highlight the importance of ensuring that the principles we claim to live by do not float in our minds as useless wordplay, but rather guide us in action toward our personal, selfish happiness here on earth. KEEPING IT REAL also contains numerous anecdotes and insights pertaining to Ayn Rand herself, making it invaluable for those who want to learn more about her from today’s most knowledgeable source.About the AuthorLeonard Peikoff is the preeminent Ayn Rand scholar writing today. He worked closely with Rand in New York City for thirty years and was designated as legal and literary heir to her estate. He has taught philosophy at several places, including Hunter College and New York University, and has lectured throughout the United States. Peikoff is the author of Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand; The DIM Hypothesis: Why the Lights of the West Are Going Out; and The Ominous Parallels. He grew up in Western Canada and now lives in Southern California.About the EditorBarry Wood (Ph.D., Harvard University, 2002) is Assistant Professor of Humanities at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah. He has taught at universities in North Cyprus, the UK, and Turkey, in addition to working for three years as a curator in a major London museum. He lectures and publishes on topics varying from Persian painting to philosophical esthetics. Dr. Wood also edited Leonard Peikoff’s book Objective Communication: Writing, Speaking, and Arguing (2013).