
Everything You Need to Know About the Fountainhead
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $6.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Scott Clem
About this listen
- Includes summary and analysis of The Fountainhead's plot, characters, and main themes.
- Includes a short introduction about the life and political philosophy of Ayn Rand
- Includes a table of contents
"The book is the story of Howard Roark's triumph. It has to show what the man is, what he wants and how he gets it. It has to be a triumphant epic of man's spirit, a hymn glorifying a man's 'I.' It has to show every conceivable hardship and obstacle on his way - and how he triumphs over them, why he has to triumph." (Ayn Rand, The Diaries of Ayn Rand)
Few novels have raised the kind of controversy and critical discourse that Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead has. Since its publication in 1943, Rand's book has been admired and exalted just as much as it has been dismissed and ridiculed. It has generated a veritable cult of diehard fans, with the book having sold in excess of six million copies in multiple languages, while others have subjected it to harsh, unyielding criticism. American philosopher Allan Bloom labeled it "hardly literature", while Canadian philosopher Mark Kingwell called it, "Rand's best work, which is not to say it is good."
Regardless of the praise and criticism, only a book of importance could have kept the public interest ignited so many years after it first surfaced, lending credence to its influence on international pop culture and politics if not the literary landscape. Moreover, its appeal may have as much to do with its controversial author as does the book itself.
©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2017 Charles River EditorsListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Laws of Human Nature
- By: Robert Greene
- Narrated by: Paul Michael, Robert Greene
- Length: 28 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Greene is a master guide for millions of listeners, distilling ancient wisdom and philosophy into essential texts for seekers of power, understanding, and mastery. Now he turns to the most important subject of all - understanding people's drives and motivations, even when they are unconscious of them themselves. Whether at work, in relationships, or in shaping the world around you, The Laws of Human Nature offers brilliant tactics for success, self-improvement, and self-defense.
-
-
Tempo is key! (1.25X)
- By James Hawkins on 11-12-18
By: Robert Greene
-
Ego Is the Enemy
- By: Ryan Holiday
- Narrated by: Ryan Holiday
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"While the history books are filled with tales of obsessive visionary geniuses who remade the world in their images with sheer, almost irrational force, I've found that history is also made by individuals who fought their egos at every turn, who eschewed the spotlight, and who put their higher goals above their desire for recognition." (From the prologue)
-
-
Disappointing. Thin, weak reading.
- By Robert on 09-08-16
By: Ryan Holiday
-
The Road to Character
- By: David Brooks
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey, David Brooks
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Looking to some of the world's greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, Brooks explores how, through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations, they have built a strong inner character. Labor activist Frances Perkins understood the need to suppress parts of herself so that she could be an instrument in a larger cause. Dwight Eisenhower organized his life not around impulsive self-expression but considered self-restraint.
-
-
Rich, textured stories
- By MarkM on 05-25-15
By: David Brooks
-
Revenge
- Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors
- By: Tom Bower
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a childhood spent on Hollywood film sets, Meghan Markle fought hard for stardom. But even when she landed her breakthrough role on Suits, her dream of worldwide celebrity remained elusive until she met the man who would change her life—Prince Harry. Their whirlwind romance culminated with Meghan’s ultimate fairy tale ending: their 2018 wedding at Windsor Castle. Finally, the world was her stage. It seemed that the dizzying success of the wedding between the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex marked the beginning of a fresh era for the British Royal Family.
-
-
THE Truth, Not “HER Truth”
- By Trump16 on 09-05-22
By: Tom Bower
-
At the Existentialist Café
- Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paris, 1933: Three contemporaries meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are the young Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and longtime friend Raymond Aron, a fellow philosopher who raves to them about a new conceptual framework from Berlin called phenomenology. "You see," he says, "if you are a phenomenologist, you can talk about this cocktail and make philosophy out of it!"
-
-
Consistent look at incoherent philosophy
- By Gary on 06-19-16
By: Sarah Bakewell
-
How to Live
- Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, perhaps the first recognizably modern individual. A nobleman, public official, and winegrower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them essays, meaning “attempts” or “tries.” He put whatever was in his head into them: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dog’s ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the religious wars....
-
-
Interesting and in parts Inspired.
- By Darwin8u on 05-21-12
By: Sarah Bakewell
-
The Laws of Human Nature
- By: Robert Greene
- Narrated by: Paul Michael, Robert Greene
- Length: 28 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Greene is a master guide for millions of listeners, distilling ancient wisdom and philosophy into essential texts for seekers of power, understanding, and mastery. Now he turns to the most important subject of all - understanding people's drives and motivations, even when they are unconscious of them themselves. Whether at work, in relationships, or in shaping the world around you, The Laws of Human Nature offers brilliant tactics for success, self-improvement, and self-defense.
-
-
Tempo is key! (1.25X)
- By James Hawkins on 11-12-18
By: Robert Greene
-
Ego Is the Enemy
- By: Ryan Holiday
- Narrated by: Ryan Holiday
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"While the history books are filled with tales of obsessive visionary geniuses who remade the world in their images with sheer, almost irrational force, I've found that history is also made by individuals who fought their egos at every turn, who eschewed the spotlight, and who put their higher goals above their desire for recognition." (From the prologue)
-
-
Disappointing. Thin, weak reading.
- By Robert on 09-08-16
By: Ryan Holiday
-
The Road to Character
- By: David Brooks
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey, David Brooks
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Looking to some of the world's greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, Brooks explores how, through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations, they have built a strong inner character. Labor activist Frances Perkins understood the need to suppress parts of herself so that she could be an instrument in a larger cause. Dwight Eisenhower organized his life not around impulsive self-expression but considered self-restraint.
-
-
Rich, textured stories
- By MarkM on 05-25-15
By: David Brooks
-
Revenge
- Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors
- By: Tom Bower
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a childhood spent on Hollywood film sets, Meghan Markle fought hard for stardom. But even when she landed her breakthrough role on Suits, her dream of worldwide celebrity remained elusive until she met the man who would change her life—Prince Harry. Their whirlwind romance culminated with Meghan’s ultimate fairy tale ending: their 2018 wedding at Windsor Castle. Finally, the world was her stage. It seemed that the dizzying success of the wedding between the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex marked the beginning of a fresh era for the British Royal Family.
-
-
THE Truth, Not “HER Truth”
- By Trump16 on 09-05-22
By: Tom Bower
-
At the Existentialist Café
- Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paris, 1933: Three contemporaries meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are the young Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and longtime friend Raymond Aron, a fellow philosopher who raves to them about a new conceptual framework from Berlin called phenomenology. "You see," he says, "if you are a phenomenologist, you can talk about this cocktail and make philosophy out of it!"
-
-
Consistent look at incoherent philosophy
- By Gary on 06-19-16
By: Sarah Bakewell
-
How to Live
- Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, perhaps the first recognizably modern individual. A nobleman, public official, and winegrower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them essays, meaning “attempts” or “tries.” He put whatever was in his head into them: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dog’s ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the religious wars....
-
-
Interesting and in parts Inspired.
- By Darwin8u on 05-21-12
By: Sarah Bakewell
-
Leaders
- Myth and Reality
- By: General Stanley McChrystal, Jeff Eggers, Jay Mangone
- Narrated by: Paul Michael, General Stanley McChrystal
- Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stan McChrystal served for 34 years in the US Army, rising from a second lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne Division to a four-star general, in command of all American and coalition forces in Afghanistan. During those years he worked with countless leaders and pondered an ancient question: "What makes a leader great?" He came to realize that there is no simple answer. McChrystal profiles 13 famous leaders from a wide range of eras and fields - from corporate CEOs to politicians and revolutionaries. He uses their stories to explore how leadership works in practice.
-
-
McChrystal should be embarrassed
- By Sean on 10-23-18
By: General Stanley McChrystal, and others
-
James Baldwin
- A Biography
- By: David Leeming
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a biography of James Baldwin, author, one-time preacher, and civil rights activist. He chose David Leeming, a close friend and colleague, to write his biography and granted him access to his correspondence. Leeming traces his life from his birth in Harlem in 1924 to his self-imposed exile in Europe, his later years as political activist, and his public funeral in 1987.
-
-
A great biography of a great man
- By Diogenes of Sinope on 10-16-16
By: David Leeming
-
Goddess of the Market
- Ayn Rand and the American Right
- By: Jennifer Burns
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Burns highlights the two facets of Rand's work that make her a perennial draw for those on the right: Her promotion of capitalism, and her defense of limited government. Both sprang from her early, bitter experience of life under Communism, and became among the most deeply enduring of her messages, attracting a diverse audience of college students and intellectuals, business people and Republican Party activists, libertarians and conservatives.
-
-
Unfortunate
- By Andrej Drapal on 03-14-18
By: Jennifer Burns
-
The Miracle Club
- How Thoughts Become Reality
- By: Mitch Horowitz
- Narrated by: Mitch Horowitz
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A guide to creating miracles in your own life through the power of thought.
-
-
Wow this is life changing
- By Joey Holman on 10-16-18
By: Mitch Horowitz
-
50 Success Classics
- By: Tom Butler-Bowden
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the books that have already enriched millions. This unabridged guide to the literature of prosperity and motivation surveys 50 of the all-time classics, giving you their key ideas, insights, and applications, everything you need to know to start benefiting from these legendary works.
-
-
Best Valued Audiobook I've Bought
- By jbgirl on 08-16-06
-
The Miracle of a Definite Chief Aim
- By: Mitch Horowitz
- Narrated by: Mitch Horowitz
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his classic guides Think and Grow Rich and The Law of Success, motivational pioneer Napoleon Hill taught that finding your definite chief aim is the most decisive and important step you can take in life. In this compelling and eminently practical "master class", acclaimed historian and New Thought author Mitch Horowitz takes you for a deep dive inside Napoleon Hill's most urgent principle. Through concrete techniques and examples, Mitch shows you how to identify your true aim, refine and act on it, and overcome setbacks.
-
-
Exceptional On Every Level
- By Aspiring Veganista on 08-28-18
By: Mitch Horowitz
-
Awakening Your Inner Genius
- By: Sean Patrick
- Narrated by: Jeff Justus
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you'd like to know what some of history's greatest thinkers and achievers can teach you about awakening your inner genius, and how to find, follow, and fulfill your journey to greatness, then you want to read this book today.
-
-
Anecdotal Evidence for the Subjective Genius
- By Jesse M. on 02-11-16
By: Sean Patrick
-
Taking on the Trust
- The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller
- By: Steve Weinberg
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long before the rise of mega-corporations like Wal-Mart and Microsoft, Standard Oil controlled the oil industry with a monopolistic force unprecedented in American business history. Undaunted by the ruthless power of its owner, John D. Rockefeller, a fearless and ambitious reporter named Ida Minerva Tarbell confronted the company known simply as "The Trust".
-
-
Annoying Narrator
- By Nate on 04-03-15
By: Steve Weinberg
-
Ida M. Tarbell
- The Woman Who Challenged Big Business - and Won!
- By: Emily Arnold McCully
- Narrated by: Emily Arnold McCully
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in 1857 and raised in oil country, Ida M. Tarbell was one of the first investigative journalists and probably the most influential in her time. Her series of articles on the Standard Oil Trust, a complicated business empire run by John D. Rockefeller, revealed to readers the underhanded, even illegal practices that had led to Rockefeller's success.
-
-
Excellent!
- By AKA1 on 03-16-19
-
Humilitas
- A Lost Key to Life, Love, and Leadership
- By: John Dickson
- Narrated by: John Dickson
- Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Humility, or holding power loosely for the sake of others, is sorely lacking in today's world. Without it, many people fail to develop their true leadership potential and miss out on genuine fulfillment in their lives and their relationships. Speaker and historian John Dickson shows how the virtue of humility was an important character trait for the "greats" of history and figures prominently in the findings of psychology and sociology.
-
-
Humility is nearly impossible to capture in a book
- By Sean on 11-28-11
By: John Dickson
-
How to Find Fulfilling Work
- By: Roman Krznaric
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 3 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The desire for fulfilling work is one of the great aspirations of our age. This book reveals explores the competing claims we face for money, status, and meaning in our lives. Drawing on wisdom from a variety of disciplines, cultural thinker Roman Krznaric sets out a practical guide to negotiating the labyrinth of choices, overcoming fear of change, and finding a career in which you thrive. Overturning a century of traditional thought about career change, Krznaric reveals just what it takes to find life-enhancing work.
-
-
This book has changed my life
- By T on 07-16-15
By: Roman Krznaric
-
American Sketches
- Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers, and Heroes of a Hurricane
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Cotter Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this collection of essays, Walter Isaacson reflects on the lessons to be learned from Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, and various other interesting characters he has chronicled as a biographer and journalist. The people he writes about have an awesome intelligence, in most cases, but that is not the secret of their success.
-
-
Not Really Sketches
- By DAVID on 11-04-11
By: Walter Isaacson