Drawing on 100 never-before-published interviews, Scott McConnell presents a unique portrait of a larger-than-life literary giant and a fascinating individual, Ayn Rand. Focusing on the private Rand, McConnell talked to the author's family, friends, fans, and associates, as well as Hollywood stars, university professors, fiction writers, and many more. Arranged in chronological order, these interviews cover a broad range of years, contexts, relationships, and observations on one of the most influential- and controversial-figures of the twentieth century. From Ayn Rand's youngest sister to the woman who inspired the character of Peter Keating in The Fountainhead, the subjects interviewed offer fresh, sometimes surprisingly candid, affectionate, and intriguing insights into a complex and remarkable writer, philosopher, and human being.