Ayn Rand's book The Art of Fiction is a course on the art of fiction that she taught in her own living room in 1958, when she was at the peak of her creative activity and was already widely known. Ayn Rand's listeners were two types of "students" - ambitious young writers seeking to learn the secrets of the craft, and readers who wanted to learn how to penetrate deeper into the "writer's kitchen" and get true pleasure from reading. It is precisely such people that this book is primarily addressed to, where in a lively and accessible form, but the basics of fiction are set out quite deeply. Anyone who tries himself in literature or considers himself an advanced reader, opening the book, learns about the nature of inspiration, the role of imagination, how an author’s style is developed, how a work of art appears. Although the book is primarily addressed to the problems of literature, it is closely related with the philosophical works of Ayn Rand and develops her main ideas about the fundamental role of reason in human life, including in creativity.