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More oxford books @ www.OxfordeBook.comFore more urdu books visit www.4Urdu.comTHE REAL ROOT OF EVIL 111Other young men orbited around Rand during this time, includingThaddeus Ashby, a Harvard dropout and later an editor at the libertarianmagazine Faith and Freedom. Like Mannheimer, Ashby enjoyedRand’s favor for several months. She offered him advice about his writingcareer, argued with him in long philosophical conversations, andoffered him lodging at the ranch on several occasions. Eventually theO’Connors discovered that Ashby had fabricated details of his past andthey cut him off. Although his friendship with Rand was platonic, hefelt a distinct current of sexuality running beneath the surface of theirinteractions. Another young man who did editorial work for Rand, EvanWright, reported a similar dynamic. 27Frank was both indispensible to Rand’s happiness and unable to satisfyher completely. His unwillingness to engage her intellectually madetheir relationship possible, for she would never have tolerated dissentfrom her husband. Yet Frank’s distaste for dispute and argument lefta void that Rand sought to fill with others. Later she would confess tofriends that during their years in California she had considered divorce.Frank, on the other hand, had found a comfortable accommodationwith their differences. When Rand proclaimed to friends that Frank wasthe power behind the throne, he joked back, “Sometimes I think I amthe throne, the way I get sat on.” 28 Frank was well aware of the trade-offshe had made. Rand’s wealth enabled him to work the land with littleworry about finances. In return he did whatever was needed to keepher happy. On the surface he was dependent on her. But like Ruth Hill,Frank understood that Ayn needed him too.As much as Rand despised California, these were intellectually richyears for her. When her first real break from screenwriting came in June1945 she leapt at the opportunity to finally pursue her own intellectualinterests. Early in the year she had mapped out her first notes for “TheStrike,” later to become Atlas Shrugged, but now her interest returnedto nonfiction. 29 On the day of her last story conference with Wallis shelingered in Hollywood to buy five evening gowns and an enormous volumeof Aristotle. The new purchase reflected her expanding plans for“The Moral Basis of Individualism.” As she told Paterson, she had “realizedthe book must be much, much more than merely a restatement of