The Emotionalists by Sky Gilbert

I wasn't sure what to make of The Emotionalists by Sky Gilbert, a fictional portrayal of Ayn Rand and her inner circle published by Blizzard Publishing of Winnipeg, in 2000. I'll start by saying that I picked the book up out of curiosity, at a Coles sidewalk sale, and bought it for the sake of the introduction. Like the author, I read Rand's book, The Fountain Head, in my teens. I would not say, as Gilbert does, that Rand was my mentor, but I experienced an echo of his fascination and disillusionment. I was also interested in the summary of the plot, in which Ayn tells her husband that she wishes to take a lover, and all concerned are expected to take the news rationally.

I read the play quickly, interested to find out how the characters would be portrayed. On the whole, although I found it worth reading, I was a bit disappointed. The author gets across his beef with Rand's corrosive philosophy and his view of her as a shrill, hypocritical egotist, a bit too unrelentingly to allow her character much scope. One wonders why the people in her circle remain enthralled. Perhaps it is a case of taking the mystique of the historical character too much for granted, and therefore failing to set up the false idol in a convincing way, for the reader, before pulling it down.

The character of Marcel Pin had the most facets, which isn't surprising since Sky Gilbert specializes in activist gay work (as judged by five minutes of google research) and Marcel is the "musical" character in the play.