Arts & Literature
![Mikel Jollett - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B0837442VF.jpg)
Hollywood Park: A Memoir
**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 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.
"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 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.
Editorial Reviews
"Loyalty, raw love, and a poetic voice."
―Good Housekeeping, "Best Books of 2020"
"A memoir that is dangerous, immediate and lyrical from the jump"
―The Wall Street Journal
"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
"Mikel Jollett Changes the Memoir Form"
―Maris Kreizman , LIT HUB's SHELTERING Podcast
"Jollett's story serves as a potent reminder that while we cannot change the hand we're dealt, our freedom lies in what we choose to do with those cards."
―Adrienne Brodeur, author of Wild Game, THE MILLIONS
"Mikel Jollett, the front man of indie band Airborne Toxic Event, chronicles his tumultuous life. Jollett was born into one of the country's most infamous cults and subjected to a childhood filled with poverty, addiction and emotional abuse. What comes through the pages is a story of fierce love and family loyalty."
―Good Morning America, 20 Books We're Excited for in 2020
"A painstaking emotional accounting of a tortured youth ultimately redeemed through music, therapy, and love."
―Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW
"The frontman of rock band Airborne Toxic Event chronicles, in gorgeous and exacting lyricism, his harrowing coming-of-age within (and eventual escape from) the Church of Synanon, a violent religious cult."
―O, The Oprah Magazine, The 30 Most Anticipated Books of 2020 (so Far)
"Jollett engagingly narrates his story...result[ing] in a shocking but contemplative memoir about the aftermath of an unhealthy upbringing."
―Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
"...Engaging and heartbreaking. A good choice for fans of memoirs about overcoming dysfunctional childhoods like Educated and The Glass Castle."
―Booklist
"Mikel Jollett's gripping memoir starts with a harrowing escape from a cult where he was raised without parents, only to be thrown into a more chaotic world where he's raised by them. With a childhood defined by neglect, poverty and uncertainty, Jollett's story serves as a potent reminder that while we cannot change the hand we're dealt, our freedom lies in what we choose to do with those cards. Hollywood Park is an illuminating and redemptive account of one man's search for meaning, family, and love."
―ADRIENNE BRODEUR, author of Wild Game
"Violent and tender and incandescent, Hollywood Park is as touching as it is shocking. Jollett def...
―Good Housekeeping, "Best Books of 2020"
"A memoir that is dangerous, immediate and lyrical from the jump"
―The Wall Street Journal
"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
"Mikel Jollett Changes the Memoir Form"
―Maris Kreizman , LIT HUB's SHELTERING Podcast
"Jollett's story serves as a potent reminder that while we cannot change the hand we're dealt, our freedom lies in what we choose to do with those cards."
―Adrienne Brodeur, author of Wild Game, THE MILLIONS
"Mikel Jollett, the front man of indie band Airborne Toxic Event, chronicles his tumultuous life. Jollett was born into one of the country's most infamous cults and subjected to a childhood filled with poverty, addiction and emotional abuse. What comes through the pages is a story of fierce love and family loyalty."
―Good Morning America, 20 Books We're Excited for in 2020
"A painstaking emotional accounting of a tortured youth ultimately redeemed through music, therapy, and love."
―Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW
"The frontman of rock band Airborne Toxic Event chronicles, in gorgeous and exacting lyricism, his harrowing coming-of-age within (and eventual escape from) the Church of Synanon, a violent religious cult."
―O, The Oprah Magazine, The 30 Most Anticipated Books of 2020 (so Far)
"Jollett engagingly narrates his story...result[ing] in a shocking but contemplative memoir about the aftermath of an unhealthy upbringing."
―Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
"...Engaging and heartbreaking. A good choice for fans of memoirs about overcoming dysfunctional childhoods like Educated and The Glass Castle."
―Booklist
"Mikel Jollett's gripping memoir starts with a harrowing escape from a cult where he was raised without parents, only to be thrown into a more chaotic world where he's raised by them. With a childhood defined by neglect, poverty and uncertainty, Jollett's story serves as a potent reminder that while we cannot change the hand we're dealt, our freedom lies in what we choose to do with those cards. Hollywood Park is an illuminating and redemptive account of one man's search for meaning, family, and love."
―ADRIENNE BRODEUR, author of Wild Game
"Violent and tender and incandescent, Hollywood Park is as touching as it is shocking. Jollett def...
Readers Top Reviews
NativeCO LDSlug
I love you Dude! This book is so well written I just want you to keep telling your story-even when you’re an adult and it’s ‘good.’ It made me laugh and cry in the same sentence. I also saw so much of my life and family and feelings in your words-spoken so exact and true. This is definitely great and I see why it’s on Oprah’s list!
Marilynn Rockelma
Haven't cried in a long long time and never reading a book this book is about bitter heart aches, and true love. It delves into mental disorders and what makes us who we are. A triumph
NicMarilynn Rocke
The first time I ever attended an Airborne Toxic Event concert was the first time I had ever even heard of the band. I immediately fell in love with their energy and lyrics. When I found out that Mikel would be releasing this book I was incredibly excited and that was BEFORE I found out that he was born into a cult. It's safe to say that this book does not disappoint. It is written just as beautifully as the lyrics to ATE songs. Mikel is able to tell his story in such a way that you can't help but feel his pain with him while reading. And the positive and triumphant outcome of a difficult childhood make the book so much better.
PJMANicMarilynn R
I read this book in 2 days. It was excellent! The author is definitely a writer. He told his story with much emotion and empathy regarding his unusual upbringing but his soul came through perfectly. He reached out to us damaged people living under similar circumstances but he did so with much love for those who entered his life in one way or another. I found this to be a moving read and am grateful that he has found the capacity to relate his experience through such powerful writing. I hope he plans on writing more in the future. His voice needs to be heard.
DrwoPJMANicMarily
The author's life could easily have gone from worse to even worse. The author and his brother were first abandoned by their parents at ages three and five to a cult, Synanon. Spirited away a couple of years later by their mother, their hopes for a responsible adult to love them was an realized dream as they were too young to understand the concept of family. Their mother, a pollyanna trapped in a paradoxical world where her 1960's hippie politics collided with her retained juvenile hope that the next man in her life would care for her and her children and make the ideal nuclear family. When the men mostly balked at the expected responsibility, her default was to turn to her two young children and expect them to not only take care of her but to navigate the adult world on their own. Mikel and Tony only escaped the trap they couldn't understand because their father eventually stepped up and took belated responsibility for his sons. Even he had failed to understand the bizarre dynamics under which his sons lived until their teens and it was largely due to Mikel's own intellect and his father's and his stepmother's support that he was able to make his way out of the abyss created by his mother. A stellar memoir from a major intellect.
