Scratch Beginnings, by Adam Shepard
I heard about this book when the blog Get Rich Slowly interviewed the author and he said “Don’t buy my book. Email me, and and I’ll send you a digital copy.” (He now has a link to a direct download.) I decided to take him up on his offer.
On “Authenticity”
Many of the comments that have been made about his project have focused on his status a privileged white male, and the concurrent advantages that granted him over others. Most conclude that this “proves nothing.” I believe this is true, but I think they miss the point of the book, and by extension the project. (I also doubt that many have read it, as I don’t see references to the text very often.)
If this young man had taken a backpacking trip through Mongolia, or just down the Appalachian Trail, and wrote of the experiences he’d had, and the people from different backgrounds he’d met; would he be met with such vitriol? I think this book should be taken in the same manner. An adventure story, meant to be inspiring and incidentally educational.
On the text
I read the book in an evening. It’s a quick read, and not very complex. Shepard is not writing prose for the ages, instead, it seems that the words were spilled out on paper as he told himself his story. It’s a conversational, informal narrative. I imagine that it would be the same phrasing he would use if he were talking to you.
This would be a good choice as an alternate selection for a high school reading class. The tone is engaging, the writing is not complex while the theme is, and the author is approachable to a young audience. The fact that Shepard seems to be responding to comments and criticism directly would also make this a good experience for a young reader.
I would have liked to seen more thought put into the ending. Shepard ends the year, having met his goals and even exceeded them to return home to ailing parents. He briefly mentioned how he would put the skills and tips he’d learned into practice in this situation, but it seems like there should be more. Most of the criticism about his “project” has centered on how he didn’t have many of the disadvantages that a “real” poor person would have. If he was / is facing the prospect of caring for two very sick dependents, then that could be a firm rebuttal. But it is not mentioned again.
On the story
I was struck by how closely his experience in the homeless shelter mirrored my own in basic training in the Army. Most of the events he describes have direct counterparts in the military, from meeting people with dramatically different backgrounds, to sleeping in an open room with too many feet and snorers, to “wall-less stalls.” I wonder how different, if at all, his story would have been had he signed up for the military.
I think he glosses over some of the troubles and tribulations he must have had. I kept waiting for setbacks, for crises, for things to go wrong. But the narrative flows along in a relatively placid style up out of the shelter and into the world of the working poor. I believe this was a stylistic choice, in order to emphasize his message of possibility and hope for a better tomorrow. But I think it would have been a better dramatic choice to highlight some difficulties more. For instance, the medical aspects of his broken toe or scalp wound from his fight would have been good choices for this. I hope that if he chooses to write more on this subject, that he returns and deals with this elephant in the room.
The Sum Up:
A decent story, if a bit naive. His interview comments and website indicate that this is not the work of libertarian fantasy that it has been sometimes described as. A fast read, and a good discussion counterpoint to Nickel and Dimed, which is all it wanted to be.
February 24th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Hey Jonathan,
Well, I gotta say thank you very much for taking the time to review my book. Your review is generous, of course, but very fair. After all, you’re right that this book is not the classic work of literature that it was never meant to be, and, moreover, it certainly could have been developed more at certain points (injuries, the ending). Different reviewers were crying out for different things, and, in the end, I felt most comfortable, as you say, just telling a simplistic story as if I “were talking to you.”
There’s plenty of praise and plenty of criticism to be had for this book. In the end, the bottom line is that this is my story, and the story of those that I meet along the way, a mere adventurous story of a kid out discovering a new world that I had previously only observed from afar. In the end, regardless of book sales or who reads it, it was the greatest learning experience of my life.
Thanks again for taking the time to read it.
Adam
February 24th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I appreciate your response to my review. That’s something I think will do well for your book: you seem to be taking more than a cursory effort to respond to criticism, both positive and negative.
I salute you for putting your money where your mouth is, and making the book available as a free download. I think that underscores your point as much as anything else you’ve done.
I work in a bookstore in a college town, and “Nickel and Dimed” is often used for course material. I will recommend your book as an addition or counterpoint to hers, as I think it provides a good beginning for discussion.
I look forward to hearing of your future endeavors, and please tell your publisher to keep me in mind for other promising new authors like you.
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:26 am
2 questions and come comments: First, I googled and did not find a link to a download of the book. On Shepard’s Scratch Beginnings website, I found the introduction only. Perhaps he changed what’s available free after you wrote.
Second, did you consider the role gender may have played in Ehrenreich’s outcome and Shepard’s? Did he?
I appreciate your approach to the review. I thought Ehrenreich was less critical of her own behaviors than she might have been, but having known poor people since my childhood in rural Arkansas, California and Florida, I am aware of the many pitfalls that interfere with financial progress. For women particularly who have the misfortune of bearing a child by a man who won’t support her or the child, the path to economic and social success is rigorous. However, neither Ehrenreich nor Shepard had these additional burdens…
If you have a link to a free digital copy of the book, let me know — or even a place to buy the digital book.
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:16 pm
I wrote him and asked him for a digital copy, which he provided very quickly. I believe you are correct in that he is no longer providing a direct download. I thought one had been placed on the Get Rich Slowly site, but I don’t see it there now.
I am avoiding confronting the idea of “Bias” in his book. Far more vehemently than Ehrenreich, Shepard makes no claims about the validity of his claims. This is not a work of social research, and for him to broach the issue of gender or race or class or physical or mental status and privilege- It’s just not possible to take a single experience and call it “data.” He makes no claims other than that it is possible to accomplish what he did.
It would have strayed far outside the realm of his book to introduce issues of child support, because I believe he had very little interactions with women during this time. It might have been possible to delve into race relations, and very feasible to talk about socio-economic class differences, because he could have contrasted his experiences with those of others he was dealing with. But he chose not to, in order to stay close to his “adventure” narrative.
I think it is important to judge the text for what it is, rather than what it might have covered.
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:32 am
I think the best thing about Adam’s book is his inductive approach to his project. He did not set out to confirm a preconceived notion; rather he set out to discover what was possible under difficult circumstances. Adam emerges from his project as far more honest that Barbara Ehrenreich, whose Marxism is plain from the beginning of her book.
I, like Adam, came from a good middle class upbringing. At age 41 now, I am at the mid-point of a fantastic career that I had to build for myself. No, I did not submit myself to the trials that Adam did, but he does all hard working and forward thinking people a service by SHOWING what anyone is capable of if they choose to focus their minds and forge ahead.
Bravo to Adam Shepard for his honesty and tenacity. He deserves all the success in the world.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:45 am
Hey! Hey! How can this happen? I read “this” book years ago. Except it wasn’t called “Scratch Beginnings.” And it wasn’t by Alan Shepard. I have not read Shepard’s book, but the reviews sound SO much like “The Other Side of the Coin” by Mike O’Connell, a book that IS read in high school classes.