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

Shepard offers a compelling and inspiring work of investigative journalism in which the author, in a sort of anti-Nickel and Dimed experiment, sets out to see if someone who starts with nothing can still achieve the American Dream. n nDON'T believe the naysayers. The American Dream--the fable that says if you work hard and follow the rules, you'll make it--is alive and well. n--New York Postn nn nn n n nn nAdam W. Shepard's Scratch Beginnings is the fascinating and eye-opening account of the grand social experiment the author undertook in response to Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed. Subtitled Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream, Scratch Beginnings chronicles Shepard's successful efforts to raise himself up from self-imposed rock bottom in one year's time--a personal odyssey that is sure to inspire anyone who reads about it, instilling new faith in the solid principles on which our democracy was built.n nn nn