Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series

The Urban Life Experience Book Discussion met over Zoom on Saturday June 2, 2022. There were ten of us on the call and we discussed Mitchell S. Jackson’s Survival Math: Notes on an American Family.  The book is a collection of essays about the author’s life in Portland, Oregon, interspersed with “Survivor Files,” which are second person point of view answers to the question, “What’s the worst thing that ever happened to you?”  The book cover features 16 photos of Jackson’s male relatives (photos he took himself with a Polaroid.) There’s no indication which relative’s picture matches which “survivor file,” nor are there any names attached.  One survivor was that close to shooting someone when his sister says, “No don’t! That’s my brother!” Inside, the would-be shooter is so relieved. Later he sees the guy he was going to shoot parked next to him and he has his daughter in the car. He covers his daughter’s body with his; he’s so convinced the guy is going to shoot him. ...