Anne C. Heller discusses her new book Ayn Rand and the World She Made, a biography of the author and philosopher best known for the novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, on Tuesday, January 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

Rand's books have attracted three generations of readers and sold more than 12 million copies. Her writings and philosophical musings have shaped the foundation of the modern Libertarian movement and influenced White House economic policies throughout the Reagan years and beyond. Rand's work remains as important as ever in American politics, but even her most loyal followers know little about her life.

Utilizing extensive research done in Russia, dozens of interviews with Rand's acquaintances and former acolytes, and previously unexamined archives of tapes and letters, Heller traces Rand's life from her childhood in Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution to her years as a screenwriter in Hollywood to the publication of her novels and the rise and fall of the cult that formed around her in the 1950s and '60s.

Heller is a magazine editor and journalist. She has been the managing editor of The Antioch Review, a fiction editor for Esquire and Redbook, the features editor of Lear's, and the executive editor of the magazine development group at Conde Nast Publications.

Copies of Ayn Rand and the World She Made will be available for sale, and Heller will sign copies purchased during the event.