240 pages
Completed 2/22/11
The tale of a recent college graduate who decides to take $25, drop himself in the middle of North Carolina, and meet set goals in one year's time, this memoir's interesting concept drew me in. However, my interest didn't hold for very long. Shepard didn't struggle very much - or if he did, he didn't present it well - and left me completely underwhelmed.
Giving himself one year, but reaching his goals way sooner, and then abandoning the remainder of the year left a bad taste in my mouth. Barely touching upon topics rampant in homeless shelters and in the bottom rung of society - drug use, addiction, mental illness, crime, prison - Shepard seems to have painted a rose-colored glasses view on his fortunate "way up". In search of the real American Dream, Shepard should have relied on the character Derrick to present the reality of it.
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