I finished another book. This one took me a little longer to read because I had to take a week off from reading it to digest it all. This is an excellent book about how you can live the American dream when starting out with nothing. I think this book really stresses the attitude it takes to make this dream attainable. This book reinforced that hard work and determination are needed to live the American dream and that apathy will keep a person from going anywhere. I think this book would be a good one to give to a person who seems lost or searching for a way to go in life. This story is very inspirational. Even though this lifestyle was an experiment for Adam Shepard many people live this life not as a experiment, but as the only way of life they have. This book made me think more about the people who have started out with nothing and have moved up the ladder. What amazing stories each of them much have to tell. If anything this book has reinforced my idea of hope in the American Dream if only if could have brought back my hope in the American People as a whole.
The following information about the book was taken from the Books-A-Million website:
Adam Shepard graduated from college in the summer of 2006 feeling disillusioned by the apathy he saw around him and incensed after reading Barbara Ehnrenreich's famous works "Nickel and Dimed" and "Bait and Switch"--books that gave him a feeling of hopelessness over the state of the working class in America. Eager to see if he could make something out of nothing, he set out to prove wrong Ehrenreich's theory that those who start at the bottom stay at the bottom, and to see if the American Dream can still be a reality.
Shepard's plan was simple. Carrying only a sleeping bag, the clothes on his back, and $25 in cash, and restricted from using previous contacts or relying on his college education, he set out for a randomly selected city with one objective: work his way out of homelessness and into a life that would give him the opportunity for success. His goal was to have, after one year, $2,500, a working automobile, and a furnished apartment.
But from the start, things didn't go as smoothly as Shepard had planned. Working his way up from a Charleston, South Carolina homeless shelter proved to be more difficult than he anticipated, with pressure to take low-paying, exploitive jobs from labor companies, and a job market that didn't respond with enthusiasm to homeless applicants. Shepard even began donating plasma to make fast cash. To his surprise, he found himself depending most on fellow shelter residents for inspiration and advice.
Earnest, passionate, and hard to put down, "Scratch Beginnings" is a story that will not only inspire readers, but will also remind them that success can come to anyone who is willing to work hard--and that America is still one of the most hopeful and inspiring countries in the world.
Shepard's plan was simple. Carrying only a sleeping bag, the clothes on his back, and $25 in cash, and restricted from using previous contacts or relying on his college education, he set out for a randomly selected city with one objective: work his way out of homelessness and into a life that would give him the opportunity for success. His goal was to have, after one year, $2,500, a working automobile, and a furnished apartment.
But from the start, things didn't go as smoothly as Shepard had planned. Working his way up from a Charleston, South Carolina homeless shelter proved to be more difficult than he anticipated, with pressure to take low-paying, exploitive jobs from labor companies, and a job market that didn't respond with enthusiasm to homeless applicants. Shepard even began donating plasma to make fast cash. To his surprise, he found himself depending most on fellow shelter residents for inspiration and advice.
Earnest, passionate, and hard to put down, "Scratch Beginnings" is a story that will not only inspire readers, but will also remind them that success can come to anyone who is willing to work hard--and that America is still one of the most hopeful and inspiring countries in the world.
1 comment:
Heyyyy Blakely,
Thanks for taking the time to read my book! And to post about it.... :)
Adam
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