Author returns to New Canaan

Friday, 13 November 2009 06:43

For New Canaan native Jennifer Burns, her passion for literature and writing was apparent at a young age.

“I would go to the New Canaan Library and have such an enormous stack of books that they would say I could not check them all out,” Burns told the Advertiser last week. “I would say, ‘Mom, would you come over and talk to them?’” For Burns, the daughter of New Canaan’s John and Barbara Burns, her childhood love of reading and writing carried through to adulthood, leading her to publish her first book this past October.

Her 384-page novel, “Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right,” chronicles the life of Rand, a philosopher, novelist and Hollywood screenwriter who grew up in Communist Russia.

“It tells not just the story of Ayn Rand but of ideas in America and how our thinking about capitalism, market and the proper role of government has really evolved over the 20th Century,” said Burns.

It was while studying for a doctorate in history at the University of California, Berkeley that Burns — who completed her undergraduate studies at Harvard University — encountered Rand when she was tasked with finding a topic for her dissertation.

When Rand’s name kept “popping up,” Burns said she looked into what had already been written about her.

“I discovered that there wasn’t anything written that was scholarly about her,” said Burns. “Most were from people who knew her and were either pro or negative about Ayn.”

Burns said she took “an objective, unbiased” approach in her own book, starting with how Rand grew up in Russia as a penniless immigrant and then moved to America and worked her way up to become a household name. Rand wrote two prominent books during the mid-1900s, “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged,” best-selling novels that Burns references.

She also explores Rand’s personal relationships, including her infidelity with a married man, as well as her philosophies on capitalism, government and individualism during that time period.

The novel incorporates segments from Rand’s private and unpublished papers and diaries, materials she gathered from the Ayn Rand Institute in California. Burns also traveled to Alabama to the Ludwig von Mises Institute for additional research.

“I developed real respect for her,” said Jeff Tucker, the institute’s editorial vice president, of Burns. “She worked quietly and relentlessly — not asking for even as much as a cup of coffee.”

Tucker, who said he was eager to get his hands on Burns’ book, called it a “very vivid portrayal of Rand herself.”

More importantly, however, the book is a page-turner, he said.

“I can’t recall a book that’s more dangerous for your work habits because when I opened it, I stopped everything I was doing,” said Tucker.

“She’s got a real gift as a stylist,” he added, “but mostly as a scholar of immense integrity.”

Burns’ publicist Susan Fensten of Oxford University Press told the Advertiser that she was attracted to the book because of its strength in discussing how Rand came into her ideas about government and how political temperatures in America changed over time.

“This is a book that’s going to be talked about for a long, long time,” she said, adding that she can’t wait for Burns’ next book.

And that talk has already become nationwide, as Burns was invited to talk about her book on October 15 on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” after the comedian expressed interest in her novel.

“To be on that show is just amazing,” said Burns. “That really brought the book out to a huge audience.”

This weekend, the current assistant professor in the history department at the University of Virginia is gearing up to bring her book to a familiar audience in her hometown of New Canaan. At 4 p.m. Sunday, November 15, Burns will discuss her novel at the New Canaan Library as part of the “Authors on Stage” series, co-sponsored by Elm Street Books.

Burns, who attended New Canaan Country School, said the school and the town’s devotion to the arts prepared her for writing her first novel.

“I discovered later in life that New Canaan has a literary tradition,” said Burns, noting that several current authors grew up in town.

“It’s not a very bohemian, artistic town, and is much more corporate,” she added. “But even still, it gave me a lot of the fundamentals to become a writer.”

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