The Architect's Suicide

As a young man, Robert A. Michael read Ayn Rand?s The Fountainhead?and the book changed the direction of his life, inspiring him to pursue a career in architecture. He believed in Rand?s modernist idea of the autonomous man of independent-mindedness and integrity. Robert follows his dreams but is continuously disappointed. He desperately wants to join the pantheon of modern architectural heroes, but for him, the valiant life of the architect that Rand promoted is elusive. His career catches the attention of his clients, his peers, and his industry?and then he disappears. Theories rages, but the truth is elusive. His personal and professional despair is well known, feeding rumors of suicide or foul play. Journalist and architectural critic R. M. Beckley knew Robert well, and now in The Architect?s Suicide he shares his thoughts on his mysterious disappearance in this fictional account. In his own pursuit of truth, Beckley interviewed those who knew Robert as a friend, mentor, and peer. He also explores what impact the problematic nature of architectural practice in the latter half of the twentieth century may have had on Robert?s life and disappearance. By thoughtfully weaving reality with imagination, The Architect?s Suicide, a fictional account of factual events, brings readers deep inside the convoluted life and mysterious death of an influential and missing American architect.