Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It, by Craig Biddle, is a clear, simple, and—at less than 150 pages—succinct introduction to the essentials of Ayn Rand's ethics. The author performs effectively the difficult task of taking abstract moral principles and concretizing them for intelligent individuals who have little or no prior knowledge of philosophy.

The main strength of the book—its ability to induce important principles from a panoply of vivid examples—is showcased in its opening polemical chapter, where Biddle demonstrates the horrors of both religion and subjectivism. In an effective use of examples, he shows how the Nazis, seemingly the ultimate social subjectivists, had an affinity for religion, thanks to the two philosophies' identical feeling-based, whim-dominated method. Biddle argues effectively that there is no essential difference between religion and subjectivism, between faith and emotionalism. It is likely that many honest persons reading this chapter will, perhaps for the first time, seriously question the precepts of conventional morality.

The main focus of the book, however, is a grounded, commonsense presentation of Ayn Rand's ethical system. For example, Biddle takes the most difficult issue of moral theory—the objectivity of values—and by contrasting such animate beings as rabbits, snakes, and men with rocks, rivers, and hammers, succeeds in showing how values are based on the needs of living organisms. A great virtue of the book is that no prior study of philosophy is necessary to grasp its presentation of the profound insights of Ayn Rand's ethics.

The structure of the book is also a strength. After arguing that religion and subjectivism both lead to destruction, Biddle builds the positive case for rational self-interest. He proceeds systematically, showing first that man's values have to be consonant with reality in order to lead to success and happiness. In a particularly effective passage, he shows that emotions are vital but derivative phenomena in human life, dependent on knowledge and value judgments. It is an important lesson for mankind to learn. He concludes the book with three "cashing in" chapters on the values that are necessary for attaining happiness, the virtues that are necessary to achieve them, and the political freedom that is the necessary social condition for such achievement.

Loving Life serves several useful purposes. First, it is a brief work that can help those previously unfamiliar with Ayn Rand's work—or those who only know her novels—to begin studying her ethical system, especially if they are unfamiliar with the concepts and theories of technical philosophy. For this reason, it is also a good book for Objectivists to hand out or recommend to honest individuals who they think might be open to these ideas.

Additionally, it is a book from which those already familiar with Objectivism might benefit. Its observation-based approach is helpful in keeping Ayn Rand's moral principles firmly anchored to reality in one's mind.