of this book which arose in a conversation, actually, with a much better editor, and that is louis lapham. and i did not suggest i do it, and he said, you, and there i was stuck. the idea was, basically, to see if it was possible to live on the wages i could get as an entry-level worker. and this means -- meant leaving home, finding a cheap place to live in, the cheapest possible consistent with some kind of level of safety and cleanliness, and then to find the best paying job i could, although, of course, i couldn't use my -- not using my real resumÉ or whatever skills they may be. not that i ever saw a help wanted ad for political essayists. anyway -- [laughter] so i don't want to ruin the story for you, the ending or anything for you, but i'll tell you the result right now. um, which i sort of knew when i left home just by trying to sit down and do the math. and i could see that particularly in the area where i first started out, this was key west, the town nearest to where i live, and it's a tourist industry town, could see the wages were going to be in the $6-$7 an hour range in 1998