Homeless in Charleston

Starting life from scratch in a new city wasn't what author Adam Shepard thought it would be | Marvin Olasky

Hope may float but hopelessness still sells. Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed, about poor Americans stuck in crummy jobs, made more than nickels and dimes for her publisher and herself. But one recent college graduate, Adam Shepard, read Ehrenreich and decided to try his own experiment: Start out in a strange city with the clothes on his back, $25, and almost nothing else, and see if after a year—without using his college degree, credit rating, or any previous contracts—he could have an apartment, a car, $2,500 in cash, and prospects for advancement. The result is Shepard's Scratch Beginnings (HarperCollins, 2008)

Q: So you didn't deliberately choose Charleston, S.C.?

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