Ayn Rand is a pretty good philosophy primer for those interested in self reliance and responsibility. The main issue I have is her characters are one-dimensional stereotypical archetypes, ones she uses to make her points. For example in Atlas Shrugged, the characters were either ultra competent industrialists, or slobbering corrupt incompetent socialists. No gray or middle ground. People in life I have found do not have these polar extremes, so application of some of her ideas are suspect.
I'm not slamming Ayn here. Its just that she rights fiction. Because of that one must filter her work versus real life. Its not as black and white as she projects.