As of today, Adam Shepard's book Scratch Beginnings is available for purchase! We're thrilled to have him joining us at the Book House a week from tomorrow, on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 7pm. If you missed our first announcement about the event, you can check it out by clicking here.
In preparation for the signing, and to help us launch our new blog, Shepard has written a guest post for us. Here's what he has to say in anticipation of his night at the Book House:
"Man, a lot of people in my generation are spoiled. A lot of us got EVERYTHING we wanted growing up, most of us turning a blind eye to the great opportunities that we’ve been given.
"Rather than continuing to debate about it, though, I decided to act. After reading Nickel and Dimed, a well-written but flawed account of Barbara Ehrenreich’s own search for the American Dream, and after taking a good, hard look at the materialistic individualism that appeared to be brewing around me with my peers, I decided to go out and test the theory of this “American Dream” on which our great country has been founded. I started with $25 and the clothes on my back in a randomly chosen city to see if, in one year, I could have $2500, a car, and a furnished apartment at the hands of hard work and frugality.
"And, of course, things didn’t go as planned from the start. I spent 70 days in a homeless shelter, got hurt, got sick, and got my butt kicked by my roommate. Maybe I reached my goals, maybe I didn’t, but that turned out to be less important than the journey itself that I took—the process of taking control of my future every morning when I woke up, or not—and the people I met along the way. Given $25, am I going to stand up, face adversity, and fight to reach my goals or am I going to dig a hole, crawl in, and wait for somebody to come rescue me?
"Of course there is PLENTY of criticism for this story, and when I come to the Book House on October 22nd, I’m going to be ready and willing to address it.
"But, for now, I’m relishing the idea that my generation, in particular, has to step up. Put down the Playstation controller, suck it up, and go out there and make something of your life!"
We all look forward to seeing you on Wednesday at the Book House!
