by Ayn Rand

isbn: 0451191137
subject: SF, Fiction and Literature
finished: 12/1/1998

Anthem is about a nightmare ultra-communist future where the individual is completely subsumed by the collective. The protagonist, Equality 7-2521, is compelled to assert his individuality and rebel against the system. This would probably be a good place to start reading Rand -- it contains early versions of most of her ideas, and requires a much smaller time investment than Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead.