I admit that I was. I'll also admit that I think reading Ayn Rand was good for me! I don't think Ayn Rand novels are generally a force for good in the world. Reading her novels did not make me more conservative. They did not make me more libertarian. But I did grow up in an environment (not my parents, other social factors) in which being selfless was a bit too much hailed as an unambiguous good, and selfishness was derided. Atlas Shrugged is an 1100 page piece of crap, but The Fountainhead isn't the worst thing in the world.
Rand didn't make me a conservative, but at that moment in my life she did teach me that having my own wants and needs didn't make me evil. I'm not saying that was her entire message, just that it was the message I heard.
