i've never read atlas shrugged, but i have read the fountainhead and we the living...(i'd need about 2 free weeks in which to give it (atlas shrugged) my undivided attention) (and that's a rarity during the school year)...ayn rand is an excellent romantic writer and her philosophy is quite inspiring, but her books can be a bit repetitive...i'm sure she could have put the fountainhead into a nice little 300-page book...but oh well... and it seemed that we the living was a very sophisticated communist soap opera...but that's just my opinion...ms. rand, however, cannot express beauty in a 900 page book like salinger did in a mere 15 pages (a perfect day for bananafish)... ...andrew