Roger,

To get through “Atlas Shrugged”, I recommend the following:

1) Glass of wine in hand when feasible.

2) Sense of humor at the fore.

3) Realize that you’re going to need a bookmark to focus the eyes as you read when you realize that a character is beginning to bloviate.

4) Steely determination when encountering one of Rynd’s long-winded descriptions of one of her characters.

5) Attempt to relish the occasional (though repetitiously rehashed) flashes of true insight the book reveals.

6) Bite your lip and/or count sheep when Dagny has sex with someone.

7) When the going gets particularly difficult, consider the social adulation conferred at having read one of the longer American novels ever written and allow this fact to spur you on.

If the above fails, may I suggest the Cliff Notes?

John