Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream [Paperback]

Adam Shepard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2007

Is the American Dream still alive or has it, in fact, been drowned out by a clashing of the classes? Is the upper class destined to rule forever while the lower classes are forced to live in the same cyclical misery? Millions of Americans fight for the answers to these questions every day, and here, in Scratch Beginnings, one man makes the attempt at discovering the answers for himself. Carrying only a sleeping bag, $25, and the clothes on his back, and restricted from using his contacts or his education, Adam Shepard sets out for a randomly selected city with one goal on his mind: work his way out of the realities of homelessness and into a life that will offer him the opportunity for success. Scratch Beginnings is Shepard's response to the now-famous books Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch, where Barbara Ehrenreich has written on the hopeless pursuit of the American Dream. This book offers his observation of what it is like for so many people on the lower end of the spectrum, the blunt end of the stick. In this poignant account, Shepard goes on a search for the vitality of the American Dream, and, in turn, discovers so much more. Scratch Beginnings is unquestionably one of the most engaging works of the social science genre. No matter your reading interest, Shepard's facile writing style is sure to keep you turning the pages.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Adam Shepard is a 2006 graduate of Merrimack College in North Andover, MA where he majored in Business Management and Spanish. Serving as a Resident Advisor during his upperclassmen years, he began to take particular interest in the social issues of our nation. Shortly after graduation - with almost literally $25 to his name - Shepard departed his home state for Charleston, SC, embarking on the journey that has now become Scratch Beginnings. Scratch Beginnings is Shepard's first work. He presently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: SB Press; 1 edition (November 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979692601
• ISBN-13: 978-0979692604
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #672,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading for every high school student, January 1, 2008

By 

Richard Lyman (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream (Paperback)

I have three children ages 12, 17 and 20. I received this book for Christmas and am fascinated by it and will get copies for my children as well as for some of their friends. A person can choose to be nickle and dimed, or can choose to create a plan and stick to it. Scratch Beginnings is not the Idiot's Guide for Getting out of Homelessness, but it is proof that anybody with determination can do it.

Our church is in downtown Charlotte, NC and we do a lot of work with the homeless. During the winter, we host Room at the Inn twice weekly to handle the overflow from the Men's Shelter. I have spent several nights at church with the homeless group and have always been amazed the majority of the them have full time jobs. They just can't accumulate the nut to get the apartment deposit, utility hookups, etc. The others seem to fall into the groups described at the Charleston shelter: the addicted and the crazies.

There are no easy answers when it comes to homelessness. I have seen some great success stories and some horrible failures including a dead man on a doorstep. I want my children to read your book for two reasons: 1) to know that they have no excuses for not making it in this life as they have had every advantage and a safety net the size of the oceans, and 2) they need to understand the roots of homelessness and what it takes to rise above it. The closest thing I have read to this book is "Finding Fish," which is more a story of redemption and the importance of family.

I help teach the AP econ class at a local high school and am going to talk to the teachers about getting the book added to the curriculum. Many of these kids have no clue when it comes to budgeting, goal setting and delayed gratification. Scratch Beginnings is an important lesson. It should be required reading for every high school student.

Oh, and as far as the "questionable language of the streets" goes, my 12 year old daughter hears worse on the school bus each day. While possibly offensive, it is realistic.

46 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Learning How Others Cope and Struggle, November 30, 2008

By 

Scot Guenter (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream (Hardcover)

I liked the premise of this book: Adam Shepard, a recent college graduate, who comes from a background of some privilege, decides to take only a sleeping bag and $25, chooses a city at random in the southeast of the United States, and sets off on a quest: he wants to see if it is possible to start with next to nothing and within a year achieve the goal of owning a working automobile, a furnished apartment, and at least $2500 in savings.

Some of his initial assumptions troubled me. He said the motivation of his social experiment was his rejection of Barbara Ehrenreich's arguments in "Nickel and Dimed" and "Bait and Switch," which he unfairly reduced and summarized as "working stiffs are doomed to live in the same disgraceful conditions forever," because "hard work and discipline" are "futile pursuits." Ehrenreich was critiquing the disadvantages the working poor and the middle class must suffer under crony corporate capitalism in the Bush years; to be fair to her, she had high admiration and regard for those who worked hard struggling to make ends meet, and she called for a change in how our economic system works. Part of Shepard's argument seems to be, "see, if I can do it, anybody else can do it too." At the beginning of the book, he sees his own perspective, advantages, and life experience as the norm. He is an educated white male athlete, strong, in his early 20s, who was raised in a nice suburb and is very healthy. He says he identifies with no political group, and believes therefore his approach and analysis will be free of bias.

There is a strong self-assuredness here that is both a folly and strength of youth. As his adventure unfolds, he will discover that he is naïve about some things, but wisely seeks to learn how to function in any new social group by observing, gaining acceptance from its members, and seeking their counsel. We journey along with him as he learns how to get by living in a homeless shelter and struggles through different temporary employments. Eventually he finds a steady position as a moving man, but he must learn to negotiate the rules and practices of that new profession. He also works through getting an apartment with a roommate from a different socio-economic background, an interesting character that has a different lifestyle and mindset.

In the end Shepard succeeds in reaching his financial goal but must stop the exercise early due to needs of others he recognizes that are greater than his own. This is a sign of some maturity and sensitivity he gains in this process. The book is most interesting as we watch him struggle to understand the ways others see the world and work through how and why he can learn from these encounters. Along with excellent budgeting strategies he does pick up some wisdom along the way, which he reviews in his conclusion.

The book was written before the great Financial Crisis that hit in George W. Bush's final months. During the tough times that lie ahead, Shepard's calls for frugality, community service, and a better support system for the working poor are timely, sound advice for both the U.S. government and its citizens. I do wish, though, that someone at his private college would have taught him to stop using the word I in the objective case, as in "she gave it to him and I" when the correct form is "me." (Someone should have alerted his editors at HarperCollins too.) The rest of his writing was good enough that this recurring error really stood out. Slang and dialect I don't mind, and one should use the accepted form in whatever social situation one is in, as Shepard learns to do while at the shelter or hanging with his new pals--well, the accepted form in the objective case in written English remains "me."

48 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard Knocks, Tips and Inspiration, December 12, 2007

By 

Neil Cotiaux (North Canton, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream (Paperback)

There are two ways to read "Scratch Beginnings": as a breezy first-person account of one man's brush with some of the more interesting characters of Charleston, SC, or as that... and more.

Reminiscent of the popular Seventies odyssey, "A Walk Across America", Adam Shepard's artful first work shows how people from all walks of life, when thrown together even briefly, can forever change one another for good or for bad. Injecting himself into a homeless shelter and working and living side by side (and sometimes too close for comfort) with some of his newfound neighbors, college-educated Shepard learns a thing or two about the 'street smarts' needed to survive and also emerge from among the working poor of our country. At the same time - without revealing his true identity - he is able to share some of his own wisdom and indefatigable optimism with the down-and-almost-out. In the end, Shepard soars, knowing that he has emerged from a self-imposed exile, stronger yet humbled, and in a way that must ironically be put to immediate use for very personal reasons.

"Scratch Beginnings" can be criticized on two counts: that as a well-educated white male his "experiment" was inherently flawed; and second, that the extremely salty language he employs in much of the book will alienate potential readers. While the author is not and never will be a single mom with two dependent kids, Shepard does allude to those in similar circumstances who have simply resolved to get on with life and better their place in society. He saw it, he heard it, and it validated his premise. As for cussing, it would be a shame if earthy language, already employed by most of Shepard's target readership - male, at-risk young adults - prevented homeless shelters, other nonprofits and educational facilities from making this book available to those who need it most.

"Scratch Beginnings" is alternatingly sad, amusing, pointed and thought provoking - all the makings of a book well worth reading.

Mr. Shepard, what's next?