I never thought of AS as just a book. It's sort of one of those manuals to the philosophy of Individualism that is laid out in story form instead of outlining the principles. I read it my freshman year of college, and it was one of the things that made sense to me. Fear of Flying by Erica Jong was still the most influential book for my life, my feminism, etc., but AS was a book that taught me the survival of the mentally fittest.

I don't agree with a lot of Randian philosophy,( I dare say you wouldn't as well, as Ayn Rand argued that photography was not art and should not be called art) but I still think the book stands alone to reward drive and intelligence. I glad you are reading it! It's great timing.