Gary Peterson’s Reviews > Atlas Shrugged > Status Update

The Equalization of Opportunity Act was passed by the moochers and looters in Congress! What does it mean for Hank, Dagny, and Frisco? Was Hank's secretary Gwen Ives the inspiration for Ditko's Gwen Stacey? Full steam ahead to the John Galt Line!

Dagny and Ellis patch things up. Dagny and Hank dream big on a cold mountain in Colorado. But why did he lie to Dagny about flying to Minnesota when he flew to NYC? Not cool, Hank. I'm Team Frisco at this early point as it's clear he's ahead of Dagny and Hank in enacting Galt's plan to stop the motor of the world.

Read the entire "Non-Commercial" chapter this evening. Compelling stuff. It all unfolds at the Reardons' eighth wedding anniversary party. All the old players are there--Dagny and Frisco--and new ones are introduced like Bertram Scudder. We also learn of the pirate Ragnar and of the legend of John Galt discovering Atlantis and sinking his ship on the spot. Frisco says the legend is fact....

Dagny puzzled by Frisco's irrational and reckless behavior. Frisco elusive when Dagny asks if Richard Halley composed a fifth concerto. Frisco vaguely implies that when she's had enough, Dagny will have the courage.

Still over a thousand pages to go? Riveting story, thankfully, and heating up with passage of the Anti-Dog-Eat-Dog Rule that effectively shuts down Dan Conway's Phoenix-Durango line in Colorado. Francisco D'Anconia is on stage but hasn't crossed paths with Dagny yet.