The Residue Years by Mitchell S. Jackson

The Paris Review called Jackson 'arguably one of America’s most important contemporary voices' and said the writing 'is searingly beautiful, self-abnegating, clairvoyant, and brave. He shares his and his family’s stories through essays, historical reportage, letters, and poems called 'centos,' crafted with lines from other poems or writings.' The Boston Globe called Survival Math a 'vibrant memoir of race, violence, family, and manhood,' in which Jackson 'recounts growing up hard and fast in Portland, Ore., and it’s a minefield from boyhood to adulthood. Because of that, my view of Survival Math is obscured in some ways by the knowledge of what came before, and by knowing Jackson for so long, so here are some other perceptions of the book: Jackson won't stop shining his sentences until someone yanks them from him. I had the privilege and the pleasure of watching both books evolve through countless revisions. Survival Math follows the success of his first novel, The Residue Years. Jackson accomplishes that, too, with several of his essays, most notably, 'The Scale.' (More on that below.) One of the other lessons from that class was that a writer should veer toward jeopardy. He's sold drugs, served time in prison, mistreated women, and has tried to make amends for all of it-and is still doing so. Jackson applies that in Survival Math, exposing his flaws while doing his best to be better. One of the best lessons from that class was that you never raise the pen to put yourself above another person. Jackson and I first met in a writing class a decade ago. In doing so, he achieves a unique dual-register throughout his work. He can weave slang into a line that also has a two-dollar word such as ' pulchritude' and make it sound natural, like the song a bird is born with.

Jackson produces music with his sentences, which are such that they could only be his-a true measure of someone at the height of his art and craft. Along with lessons on history, heartbreak, and hope, the writing itself is beautiful. Should it find the right hands, it seems likely to have the power intended. Jackson and now he has written a memoir with that same aspiration: Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family. Jackson by John Ricard)Ī book can change a life, even save one.

The Residue Years by Mitchell S. Jackson