Author Ayn Rand died in March 1982, after a long career that included four published novels, two Broadway plays, several produced screenplays, and numerous non-fiction essays and speeches.

In the introduction, Peikoff writes he "decided to publish this material because I believe that admirers of Miss Rand will be interested to learn by what steps she developed her literary abilities.

"[5] It is followed by unpublished excerpts from Rand's 1943 novel The Fountainhead - especially, the sections describing the relationship of the protagonist Howard Roark with actress Vesta Dunning, an episode of considerable importance in the original text and removed from the final version.

"The Simplest Thing in the World" was written in 1940 and previously published in a 1967 issue of The Objectivist and in Rand's 1969 book The Romantic Manifesto.

[6] In a review for the libertarian magazine Reason, literature professor Stephen D. Cox said the collection was "very interesting" and revealed details of Rand's personality, although the writing in the selections was inferior to her previously published work.