Adam W. Shepard

This book describes a journey of a young man trying to find himself and figure out how to really live his life in full. He has a very good writing style of describing events and situations during his travels that makes the reading of his book very pleasant.
It is very impressive how much he was able to travel with limited financial resources. All situations are described in detail and some flashbacks are also brought into context, like his relation with his first basketball coach (Jack) and how that affect his future life. If he wants he has enough experience to write a very useful travel guide for most of the places he visited, with recommendations like "get the chicken bus" or variants on this line. His description on the passion for soccer in Guatemala is very precise and applies to all South America. He is a good character's observer and definitely an excellent story teller. All his stories are told with great passion, like something coming directly from his soul.

Excellent reading, I recommend this book to the permanent library of all readers who enjoy adventures, travels and a good entertainment for some hours. You definitely will be inspired to travel like never before. It took me around 10 hours to read the whole book.
This book was written by Adam Shepard and published by Scratch Beginnings Press on April 2013. I received a copy from the author for reviewing and I was not requested to give a positive review. Opinions expressed here are my own.… (lisätietoja)

College-educated, middle class, ablebodied, heterosexual white guy proves to himself that he can start with nothing and end up with something in contemporary America.Which as you may have guessed, does not mean to me that EVERYONE could, or even MOST PEOPLE could.He picks a random city in the south, puts 25$ in his pocket, and decides to challenge himself. In a year, can he have his own place to live, a car, and something like 2K in his bank account. He says he won't rely on his family and other contacts. And he won't use his education to get a job.Except that it's one thing to not put your education on a job application. To go for generally unskilled labor. It's another thing to not actually HAVE the education. He does mention now and then that he realizes it would be much harder if he was a single mother, or this and that. But while he intellectually might understand that, I don't feel that he gets it. I don't think he realizes how privileged he is as this homeless-by-choice man he's made himself into.Still and all, it's an interesting look into the lives and culture of homeless people in the US. (Well, homeless men in this one city in America.) I can't say I didn't learn a few things. I can't say I won't look at the world a little different after having read it.But I don't think anyone should take it as proof that the American Dream is alive and well for everyone. Even if it does work for young, fit white guys. Or at least this one white guy.… (lisätietoja)

In spite of the several self-identified flaws in Mr Shepard's social experiment, this is an enjoyable book which affirms that America is still a place where dreams come true and hard work pays off. I sincerely applaud this young man for his adventurous spirit, strong work ethic and willingness to put his own money where his mouth is. That being said, while Scratch is a pleasant read, it is very obviously the product of a young writer who still has not matured past the "I/me/my" stage often inherent with youth. Even during the writer's accounts of other encounters with other people he leaves them barely 2-dimensional characters whose descriptions are based solely on his observations of them or the things he told them. He doesn't appear to do much research or writing about the how his newfound acquaintances interpret their own upward mobility or their feelings about how they arrived at the shelter in the first place. As a mother of a young man in Shepard's age group, I appreciated him taking on this challenge and taking the initiative to write about it. However, as a reader, I didn't really learn anything tangible from this book (other than possibly gaining a greater appreciation for furniture movers). Bottom line: It's a nice story, but it's only an average book.… (lisätietoja)