Every once in a while you get your hands on a book and you’re just grateful for having found it. Hollywood Park is that book. Such an eye-opening and intimate exploration into one small boy’s early life. The personal content alone demands courage on the part of the writer and there is no shortage of courage here. I read with a desire to learn more and more. The style of writing is very familiar and open, no elaborate vocabulary, no need to provide multiple explanations for off handed references. Simple, clear and fully intriguing. Another aspect that is beautiful about this book is the raw honesty. Memories can always be embellished, or even ‘euphemized’ for lack of a better word. None of that here. You get the sense that you are reading the true, unadulterated truth and that is how a memoir should be in my opinion. Lessons to be learned here too.