**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** “A Gen-X This Boy’s Life…Music and his fierce brilliance boost Jollett; a visceral urge to leave his background behind propels him to excel… In the end, Jollett shakes off the past to become the captain of his own soul. Hollywood Park is a triumph.” –O, The Oprah Magazine “This moving and profound memoir is for anyone who loves a good redemption …
“This moving and profound memoir is for anyone who loves a good redemption story.”
–Good Morning America, 20 Books We’re Excited for in 2020
“Several years ago, Jollett began writing Hollywood Park, the gripping and brutally honest memoir of his life. Published in the middle of the pandemic, it has gone on to become one of the summer’s most celebrated books and a New York Times best seller…”
-Los Angeles Magazine
HOLLYWOOD PARK is a remarkable memoir of a tumultuous life. Mikel Jollett was born into one of the country’s most infamous cults, and subjected to a childhood filled with poverty, addiction, and emotional abuse. Yet, ultimately, his is a story of fierce love and family loyalty told in a raw, poetic voice that signals the emergence of a uniquely gifted writer.
We were never young. We were just too afraid of ourselves. No one told us who we were or what we were or where all our parents went. They would arrive like ghosts, visiting us for a morning, an afternoon. They would sit with us or walk around the grounds, to laugh or cry or toss us in the air while we screamed. Then they’d disappear again, for weeks, for months, for years, leaving us alone with our memories and dreams, our questions and confusion. …
So begins Hollywood Park, Mikel Jollett’s remarkable memoir. His story opens in an experimental commune in California, which later morphed into the Church of Synanon, one of the country’s most infamous and dangerous cults. Per the leader’s mandate, all children, including Jollett and his older brother, were separated from their parents when they were six months old, and handed over to the cult’s “School.” After spending years in what was essentially an orphanage, Mikel escaped the cult one morning with his mother and older brother. But in many ways, life outside Synanon was even harder and more erratic.
In his raw, poetic and powerful voice, Jollett portrays a childhood filled with abject poverty, trauma, emotional abuse, delinquency and the lure of drugs and alcohol. Raised by a clinically depressed mother, tormented by his angry older brother, subjected to the unpredictability of troubled step-fathers and longing for contact with his father, a former heroin addict and ex-con, Jollett slowly, often painfully, builds a life that leads him to Stanford University and, eventually, to finding his voice as a writer and musician.
Hollywood Park is told at first through the limited perspective of a child, and then broadens as Jollett begins to understand the world around him. Although Mikel Jollett’s story is filled with heartbreak, it is ultimately an unforgettable portrayal of love at its fiercest and most loyal.
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This is a memoir, but it’s also a song—a lyrical labyrinth that weaves and mesmerizes, all the while proving there’s nothing more dangerous or powerful than a parent’s love. Hollywood Park is a magical debut. Loved it.
Violent and tender and incandescent, Hollywood Park is as touching as it is shocking. Jollett deftly dissects his struggle to unburden himself of the damage he inherited from his broken family, with insights that are brutally honest and psychologically astute. It tore me apart.
Hollywood Park is the often heartbreaking, always honest story of a confused boy struggling to make sense of a crazy world. It’s filled with pain, poverty, and violence but also with fierce love, rock and roll, and unexpected triumphs.
Raw, intense, and emotional Hollywood Park is a memoir that will stick with the reader long after the last page has been read. Filled with alcoholism and addiction, violence and poverty, not to mention the infamous cult known as Synanon, Jollett’s life and memoir shows the powerful affects these things can have on an individual. Hollywood Park isn’t filled only with negativity and hurt however; it is also filled with love, family, perseverance and triumph as the reader plays witness to Mikel’s successes, both personally and professionally (I am filled to the brim with envy that he met Bowie).
When I was given the chance to read a memoir about the front man of The Airborne Toxic Event I jumped at the chance, having enjoyed their music for some time as well as a very basic knowledge about Mikel Jollett himself. Hollywood Park was such a great read that gave me a greater understanding and appreciation of Jollett’s, and the band’s, music. There are moments that are full of heartache and despair, and others that were light and amusing. Jollett’s writing really invites the reader in, sharing in his success and downfalls, and his honesty, even when placing him in a negative light, is refreshing. His story shows that people can overcome the hands that life deals them, so long as they are willing to work to rise above them.
I feel very lucky to have read this book, and it is one I highly recommend to everyone. I devoured this book, finding it difficult to put down.
Thank you Celadon Books for sending me an ARC of Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett, given in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
As a mother I read this memoir and was constantly in a state of disbelief at the trials and tribulations Mikel and his brother Tony endured. This memoir tells of Mikel’s life growing up initially in a cult where he was separated from his parents, to living with his mother who struggled with mental illness. Mikel’s mother suffered with bouts of depression that led to instability in the boys life. Drug use, emotional and physical abuse, along with a deeply deprived childhood allows Mikel tells a story that pulls on your heart strings.
The story starts with Mikel living in the Synanon cult with his brother Tony and other kids, all who have been separated from their parents. The story is told from the perspective of a small child. There are women who take care of the children, but the kids only see their parents sporadically on special occasions. One night Mikel is woken by the woman who he is told is his mother and told that they have to leave. The next day Mikel’s life is turned completely upside down. He meets family members he never knew, which is weird but also exciting. However Mikel misses Synanon and the people who cared for him for as long as he’s known. The boys and their mother end up on Oregon where they experience school for the first time, and really start to understand how their lives differ from their peers. The boys experience poverty, and a sense that they have to take care of themselves as their mother is unpredictable, and emotionally unstable.
Mikel and Tony’s only solace is when they spend time with their dad who is an ex-con and former drug addict, but emotionally gives the boys the love they crave. As the boys age and struggle with the lifestyle their mother lives, they seek the stability their father brings. This story centers on kids who just want a normal family life, and struggle with trying to be happy and fulfilled while also trying to keep their mother happy. They soon realize they can’t have both, and a lifetime of struggles ensue while trying to be emotionally stable, but also happy. In the end the Mikel has to learn who he really is, and how to break the dysfunctional patterns he learned his whole life.
Thank you @CeladonBooks for this ARC #CeladonReads #HollywoodParkMemoir #partner
I have the book but also listened to the audio version read by Mikel Jollett which made it even more personal. It was shocking, heartbreaking, honest and fascinating. Mikel and his older brother Tony were raised in the cult Synanon until Mikel was seven. The beginning is written from a child’s perspective, “C-U-L-T is an ugly word. It looks like the C is spitting the U right at the L. The T is standing still with its arms out, trying to keep its distance from the other letters. They don’t seem like four letters that want to be in the same word together. Maybe that’s why everyone looks so mad when they say it.” Their upbringing shapes both of them in many ways affecting them into adulthood. The difference in parenting between their mother and father is distinct and how they deal with addictions and negative situations. Drugs, alcoholism, violence, and poverty are all things that they both deal with. Mikel makes a 180 degree change after a motorcycle accident in his teens and gets a full ride to Stanford; he becomes a recognized athlete. It’s incredible to see all the different paths he’s taken in one life with all the odds against him. Through all the challenges and adversity they both overcome their demons and find happiness. An absolute must read.
A heartbreakingly raw memoir of Mikel Jollet’s tumultuous life shaped by the Synanon cult of California.
…
…for an understanding of the impact of parental mental health issues (like chronic depression and narcissism) on the physical and mental development of children.
• Honest, insightful
• Slow build, emotional
• Themes: Trauma, Love, Addiction, Neglect
Thanks to Celadon for the free book.
Hollywood Park
Mikel Jollet
This is a fantastic memoir by Mikel Jollet – his childhood story living in a commune in California which ended up being the Church of Synanon one of the most dangerous and infamous cults, and suffering through poverty, emotional abuse, and addiction was really heart wrenching. His story was so well written and you see the trajectory of how his experiences shaped the person he is now.
I had an opportunity to also listen to this memoir in audio and I felt that I was truly immersed into Jollet’s story – truly emotional, engaging as narrated by Mikel Jollet himself. I highly recommend this fantastic memoir.
Wow. Just wow. I had no idea what to expect with this book, but Sometime Around Midnight is one of my favorite songs and the description sounded interesting, so when this book showed up in my account, I dove right in. The emotional depth, honesty, lyrical and beautiful writing, and the author’s fascinating history made this book one of the best autobiographies I’ve read in a long time. I could not put it down. Mikel Jollett truly can do anything he puts his mind to. After the childhood he survived, and the emotional scars it left, it’s so refreshing and uplifting to see that he’s found success doing what he loves and that he now has a family of his own. I don’t have anything to add to all of the other glowing reviews except to say, “Read this book!”. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a riveting memoir by Mikel Jollett. The book begins with Mikel as a young boy in a notorious cult called Synanon. Once he, his mother, and brother escape the cult, Mikel endures a childhood of emotional abuse, addiction, and poverty. Throughout the book, Mikel relates how his life is colored by family and addiction. Mikel is resilient and through tragic circumstances, he emerges as an author and lead singer for The Airborne Toxic Event. It is ultimately a story of love, family and triumph.
This has to be one of my favorite stories of survival! Mikel Jollett turned a tragedy into something truly beautiful!! I never heard of The Airborne Toxic Event until I read this book and they are truly underrated! I now tell everybody about this book and about this band! I highly recommend!
Terrific memoir
I’m not really a fan of memoirs but I was sent a copy of this book by Celadon Books and I decided to check it out based on the blurb. The author was in a cult called Synanon. I never heard of that cult before so I looked it up and talk about intense.
The the story starts off with the author leaving the cult and adjusting to life on the outside. If I’m being honest I would have preferred what his life was like during the cult so I could get a better understanding. The chapters are written from a child’s perspective and that was tough for me to get into reading wise. I eventually switched over to the audio version and was able to continue with the story this way.
I must say this memoir was rather on the depressing side. It dealt with a lot of heavy topics and issues. Mikel and his brother, Tony needed some therapy, love and support that they didn’t seem to get from his mother. From what I read I liked Bonnie (his dad’s girlfriend/wife) and she seemed to really care for the boys. I had reservations if I wanted to continue with this memoir but I’m happy I did. There was definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. The author Mikel Jollett narrates this audio book and he did a great job. I liked the musical touches as well. Makes me want to check out his band.
Triggers:
Drug Use
Abuse
Beautiful, catchy, poetic, mesmerizing and approachable.
This is not so much a “memoir” as it is a semi-chronological collection of essays. The writing is fantastic: beautiful, catchy, poetic, mesmerizing and approachable all at once. This is book is so good you just HAVE TO Google the author multiple times throughout your read. I wanted to know more and more about his life AS I was reading about his life.
“Hollywood Park” is a book that brings you along with Mickell Jollett as he experiences childhood, teen years and adulthood.
Told in multiple parts, one part for each segment of his life, the book speaks in a third person memoir perspective, and the author uses the voice of his respective age for each segment. So, when he’s 5 years old, the writing is similar to how a five year old would tell a story (“and then and then and then”). This is what I loved most about this book, how it’s written. Always a good thing, right?
Based on the description, I expected to learn more about the cult in which Mikel and his brother were raised. I am cult-obsessed. I love reading and learning about cults and escapes from cults. The book begins with their escape from the cult, though, and the author was understandably too young to really recount the actual living experience, so there wasn’t much in the book about it. The cult, though, definitely informed a lot of who he became and who he endeavored not to become. It’s an incredible story.
It was hard to read about Mickel and his brother. What a dysfunctional sibling relationship. Who beats up and bullies their own brother? My heart broke for young Mikel. I can’t even imagine this experience.
Coming from two parents with addictions myself, I strongly related to Mikel’s upbringing. It’s refreshing to see that other people have problems, big problems, and they’re not afraid to let it all out there for the world to see. Mikel is one of those people, and I thank him for writing this incredible story.
I fell in love with this heartbreaking and heartwarming book.
5 stars
I have a book hangover after completing Hollywood Park. It is a memoir that reads like a novel. I had never heard of Mikel Jollett or his band, The Airborne Toxic Event for which he is the lead singer. What I discovered is Mikel is a gifted writer.
The opening section of this memoir is mind jarring. Mikel’s parents were members of the Synanon Cult. Children were taken away from their parents at the age of six months and raised in “the school.” He had no concept of what the meaning of “Mom” or “Dad” meant. In this section, the reader realizes what a gifted writer Mikel is. We see what his life is like through the eyes of a young child. So emotional.
For each section of this memoir, Mikel’s writing changes to his age. After completing this memoir, I just can’t stop thinking about it. I need to listen to his music and reread this book.
Thank you Celadon books and Bookish First for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
BOOK REVIEW
Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett
On Sale: May 26, 2020
-DESCRIPTION-
Mikel Jollett’s memoir. It all starts as his mother is fleeing with Mikel and his brother, Tony, from the famed cult, Synanon. His families struggles with addiction, mental illness, abandonment and how F.A.M.I.L.Y can all be so intertwined.
-THOUGHTS-
So I half read/half listened to this book. The audiobook was amazing because it was narrated by Mikel. As the book was wrapping up, I was mowing my lawn listening to the last hour of the book and the tears were streaming. Mikel doesn’t pull any punches. He’s honest. The book is wrapped up so well. It’s a beautiful memoir.
-RATING-
5/5
I highly recommend this book!
-SIMILAR RECOMMENDED READS-
Glass Castle
The Sound of Gravel
Brain on Fire
Hollywood Park is getting such fabulous, well-deserved advance publicity, with early reviews and interviews and sneak peeks at the songs written based on events in the book that I don’t feel there is anything left for me to say except if you don’t read any other book this year you must read this one. It is amazing. It will touch you deeply and won’t let go.
When I received the ARC from Celadon Books I didn’t know what to expect. I had never heard of Mikel Jollett or his alternative band and wasn’t sure if maybe there was something from NPR or any articles he had written I was familiar with, but probably not. I knew a little about the Synanon cult from what I read in the paper years ago and I knew that Hollywood Park used to be a racetrack. So I thought maybe this book was another tell-all expose of life in a cult and the story of the cult leaders. Wrong. This is the story of a boy and his brother and what that cult and their mother did to them, took from them, marked them. Jollett was only five years old and leaving the cult as the book began, so the part of the story about his life there is small. But the effects of those five short years he lived at Synanon are large. Huge. Tragic. Heartbreaking.
When Jollett is first speaking in the 5-year old’s voice in the book I was confused and hoped this wouldn’t continue throughout the entire book. But as the story progressed I realized what a masterful approach this was. You are put right in the experience of his world at that age, with the accompanying confusion and fear of the young child, and then the adolescent and so on. What is already compelling and powerful becomes even more so, unbelievable, sad, haunting, making you remember events and feelings from your own childhood that you had chosen to forget.
The harmful effects of the years in Synanon and the later years with his mother can’t be overestimated. He became the superchild, the achiever, the boy who knows boys are born to take care of their mothers. After all, she told them often enough, didn’t she? No, they weren’t hungry, scared, angry, sad. She was. Didn’t they realize all she’d been through? So he took up the job of taking care of her. At age five. His brother got the role of scapegoat, the one who always acts out, who fails. Mikel Jollett was destined for greater things so therefore couldn’t fail. I wanted to rescue this little boy and his brother or make his mother go away.
Jollett’s father is initially painted as the bad guy, the ex-con, the drug addict, the one who left his mother the victim. But as time goes on you see what a good man his father is, how hard he works to take care of “his boys.” As for the mother, even though she was later diagnosed with mental illness I found it hard to feel much sympathy for her. Perhaps if this had been the story of her life, but what she did to her sons can’t be easily forgotten or forgiven.
Jollett is a superb writer. Hollywood Park is not always easy to read, but that is because of the painful lives they were living. The words flow smoothly, the descriptions vibrant and clear, the feelings real, the story compelling. I often did not want to stop reading because I just had to see what happened next, if just one thing would go right for him and stay that way. By the end of the book Jollett makes you feel as if you know him, and you are proud and happy for all he has achieved against such odds, for what a brave boy he was and what a brave man he is.
Thanks to Celadon Books for providing my advance copy. This is truly the best book I have read in a long time. All opinions are my own. I so enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. And have my copy of the Hollywood Park album on pre-order!
#HollywoodParkMemoir #CeladonReads
I received the print galley copy of this book from Celadon Books and Bookish First Impressions in exchange for an unbiased review.
This memoir is told through the eyes of a young child as the years progress. It is expressed with all the confusion and misunderstanding that comes with immaturity.
“Our parents were like ghosts in Synanon, haunting us then disappearing again, leaving us to wonder what their connection to us was supposed to mean.”
Founded by Charles “Chuck” Dederich in 1958 in Santa Monica, CA, Synanon originated as a refuge to those seeking rehab from drugs and alcohol. It serves as an example of how “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It ultimately became a violent community where families were estranged and instilled with inappropriate coping skills through their group activities.
Mikel and his older brother Tony were whisked away one night with a woman they called, “mom” although they barely knew her. Gerredina “Gerry” realizes that she needs to leave Synanon, an experimental commune in California. The children of Synanon were raised to be independent and had minimal interaction with their parents. They are picked up and taken to live with their maternal grandparents, Freida and Frank. It isn’t long before his mother decides to move from one bad situation to another. As with most cults it is difficult to leave without consequences of retaliation.
Their escape from Synanon was the beginning of a long, difficult journey of discovering life outside the commune. Although dysfunctional, Mikel discovers he has family and isn’t alone in the world. It takes many years for him to acknowledge and confront the cycle of emotional manipulation by his mother. He abandons the vision of his father that his mother instilled as an uncaring, drug fiend.
This memoir is not a rags to riches type story. Far from it. Mikel grows up in poverty and confusion wondering who he can trust. He manages to attend Stanford on scholarship but that doesn’t guarantee him a successful career. It almost seems like a blip on his journey to find meaning in his life.
As I am more than half way through his story, I am starkly aware that most of these devastating experiences occurred before Mikel was 16 years old. He endured more than an average person would in a lifetime before he graduates from Stanford. He grapples with his life long demons and assumptions of his extensive family history of substance abuse and prison.
Eventually, Mikel discovers the life he was meant to live which may be considered unconventional. But, it’s his authentic, unconventional self that allows him to find success and happiness.
Mikel Jollett is a 5 year old when the person he is told to call mom takes him and his 7 year old brother Tony away from Synanon, a safe haven for recovering alcoholics and drug users that turns into a cult with shaved heads and forced divorce , to his grandparents home. This is all new and strange for Mikel and Tony, they never had cousins, aunts, uncles or grandparents and are not sure what this all means and how they will fit in their life. There is a lot of anger, resentment and general confusion with their new life and the outside world they know nothing about, it’s a very different life than the one they were used to. They are shuffled back and forth from Oregon where they live with their mentally ill mother And various partners and father and his wife Bonnie in California, they don’t know what is considered normal and struggle to figure it all out. This is a story of hard times and rising above with endurance, understanding and love.
As Mikel Jollett recalls his horrifying childhood in his memoir, “Hollywood Park”, it is hard to visualize how such a small boy could survive the cruel chaos of the world around him. His surreal early years spent in a cult environment were just the warm-up for what was to follow. Faced with mental and physical cruelty, poverty-level living conditions, a highly-dysfunctional family, and so much more, he somehow endured his hellish journey to manhood. Overcoming his own personal struggles, he later graduated with honors from Stanford University and found success as a musician and writer. As the years passed, Mikel Jollett would follow through an emotional full-circle, coming to terms with what he could not change, and finding hope and love through the power of forgiveness.
Book Copy Gratis Celadon Books