Anthem was not immediately accepted by the American literary establishment, according to Peikoff, who chronicles in some detail Rand’s efforts to get the novella published. He says American intellectuals were in the grip of Communist ideas at the time Rand wrote the work, and it took the recognition of two conservative publishing houses for it to gain an American following. Once it was published, however, it gained tremendous popularity. Rand originally conceived Anthem, according to Peikoff, as a play, later as a magazine serial, and finally, at the suggestion of her publisher, as a novella.