“A vibrant memoir of competition, violence, family members, and manhood…a virtuosic wail of the book” (The Boston Globe), Survival Math calculates how award-winning writer Mitchell S. Jackson survived the Portland, Oregon, of his youngsters.

This “spellbinding” (NPR.org) book explores gangs and guns, near-death experiences, sex work, masculinity, composite fathers, the concept of “hustle,” as well as the destructive power of dependency—all framed within the tale of Mitchell Jackson, his family members, and his community. Lauded about Survival Math: Notes with an All-American Family members for its breathtaking pace, its sensitive portrayals, its stark candor, and its own luminous style, Survival Math reveals on every page the searching intellect and originality of its writer. The principal narrative, centered on understanding the antecedents of Jackson’s family members’s experience, is normally complemented by survivor files, which feature photographs and riveting short narratives of many of Jackson’s male family members.

“A vulnerable, sobering take a look at Jackson’s life and beyond, in all its tragedies, burdens, and faults” (SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA Chronicle), the sum of Survival Mathematics’s parts is a highly original whole, one that reflects over the exigencies—more than generations—which have shaped the lives of a lot of disenfranchised Us citizens. “Both poetic and brutally honest” (Salon.com), Mitchell S. Jackson’s non-fiction debut is really as essential since it is definitely beautiful, as true as it is definitely artful, a singular achievement, not to be missed.