Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream
Language: English
Published by SB Press, 2007
- Softcover
- Used

Seller: Greenworld Books, arlington, TX, U.S.A.Greenworld Books
AbeBooks seller since June 20, 2025
Condition: Used - Very good
£ 5.48
Quantity: 1 available
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Fast Free Shipping – Very Good condition book with a firm cover and clean pages. Shows normal use and some light wear or limited notes markings. A solid, nice copy to enjoy.
Seller Inventory # GWV.0979692601.VG
- Title
- Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream
- Author
- Adam Shepard
- Publisher
- SB Press
- Publication year
- 2007
- Condition
- very_good
- Binding
- Soft cover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0979692601
- ISBN 13
- 9780979692604
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
Adam Shepard graduated from college in the summer of 2006 feeling disillusioned by the apathy he saw around him and incensed after reading Barbara Ehrenreich'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."
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Greenworld Books
arlington, TX, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since June 20, 2025
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Greenworldbooks
3703 Avenue E East
Arlington, TX U.S.A. 76011
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