Survival Math

Notes on an All-American Family

By: Mitchell S. Jackson

Narrated by: Mitchell Jackson

In a thrillingly alive, candid new work, award-winning author Mitchell S. Jackson takes us inside the drug-ravaged neighborhood and struggling family of his youth, while examining the cultural forces - large and small - that led him and his family to this place.

With a poet’s gifted ear, a novelist’s sense of narrative, and a journalist’s unsentimental eye, Mitchell S. Jackson candidly explores his tumultuous youth in the other America. Survival Math takes its name from the calculations Mitchell and his family made to keep safe - to stay alive - in their community, a small Black neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, blighted by drugs, violence, poverty, and governmental neglect.

Survival Math is both a personal reckoning and a vital addition to the national conversation about race. Mitchell explores the Portland of his childhood, tracing the ways in which his family managed their lives in and around drugs, prostitution, gangs, and imprisonment as members of a tiny Black population in one of the country’s whitest cities. He discusses sex work and serial killers, gangs and guns, near-death experiences, composite fathers, the concept of “hustle”, and the destructive power of drugs and addiction on family.

In examining the conflicts within his family and community, Jackson presents a microcosm of struggle and survival in contemporary urban America - an exploration of the forces that shaped his life, his city, and the lives of so many Black men like him. As Jackson charts his own path from drug dealer to published novelist, he gives us a heartbreaking, fascinating, lovingly rendered view of the injustices and victories, large and small, that defined his youth.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Mitchell S. Jackson (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

Stories of mistreated women

If one wants to feel repulsed of how men treated women, go ahead and read it. It is sad how women were treated in so many interactions listed in these stories. Then I wonder the purpose of the book, redemption?

Not meant for me.

Over my head with this one. Beautifully written, but not meant for me as audience. English is not my first language, but I do only read and listen to books in English and do not consider myself having difficulty reading most books, but the language in this one was so academic that I had to look up so so many words. I gave up and just listened and got the overall meaning. Had that not been the case I would have given this one 4 stars.

Also horrible narrator. Hard to follow and not fall asleep to.

A unique approach to memoir

the author/narrator did a great job telling the stories. The stories are heartbreaking and inspirational

Best Book I’ve Read in 2019

Mitchell Jackson is a great writer who has put his life stories into print. As a Portland, OR native, I could visualize each scene as he creatively tells his story in this book. I read this book but it was even more powerful listening to Mitchell read it. Loved it!

highly recommend

I heard an interview with Mitchell on NPR and decided to get his book. A great listen and interesting story. I dont finish a lot of books (even on Audible). This one I did. His reading was a tad slow for my liking, but adjusted to 1.25x was perfect for me and I liked that he narrates it himself.

Fast 10 Slow 20

Incredible Read. Exemplifies so many our real life experiences growing up. Illustration of the challenges navigating Fatherhood differently than the way in which we may have been raised by our Dad’s.

A window into another part of my hometown

Mitchell Jackson had a wonderful way with words. His mashup of academian vernacular and words from the streets is artful and endlessly enjoyable.

I grew up in the same place and there were parts of my life I saw in Jackson’s. There were also parts of Jackson’s story that was so different from my own it was like we lived in two separate towns. Which, in a way, we did thanks to an accumulation of institutionalized racism.

A beautiful telling of a complete story. Jackson shares the all the parts, pretty and shameful, gentle and violent, sincerely. The thing I appreciate most about the telling of this story is the appreciation of process. We are all somewhere on our journey and will never be finished.

Amazing

Representing N.E.P. on center stage. Thank you for sharing your narrative through eyes brown like mines.

Great Read....But...

This is a good and necessary read for all. However the audible version is very difficult to get through. Author is not a good reader. Due to weight of the content some things are missed. The book is timely and relatable for 2020.

Not your typical American story

Love the author’s authenticity, vulnerability, detailedness, the variety of tales told, and candor. Great read, especially for black men/community. Highly recommend. Makes me interested in other of Mitchell’s titles!