I wasn’t sure what to expect when I finally got my hands on Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett. I had seen the cover again and again on social media and in the book community and something about its muted cover kept my attention. It’s a great cover for a memoir because it gives me that feeling of nostalgia even though the picture isn’t anything to do with me, looking at this photograph just screams childhood. So I didn’t pick the book up as a fan of The Airborne Toxic Event or its lead singer, Mikel Jollett. Instead, the cover (what we aren’t supposed to judge, right?) is what drew me in.
But the cover doesn’t always put me over the edge to get the book into my hands. That’s when I saw Hollywood Park recommended for fans of Educated by Tara Westover. Educated was the first memoir I had read in a while that felt like it had such substance. This came after a slew of celebrity memoirs which are entertaining but generally pretty surface-level material.
One of the creative aspects of this book was way Jollett’s writing developed from start to finish. When the book begins, we’re introduced to Mikel as a child and the writing exactly captures the way a child speaks and understands the world. This child has certainly had a different experience since he was raised at Synanon, a California cult that practiced removing children from their parents’ care at only 6 months old. Imagine how different a child self-explains their reality when their lives are played with on the whim and desires of a cult leader.
As Mikel ages so too does the prose. There are more complex sentences and deeper concepts explored. Mikel and his brother, Tony, escape the cult with their mother at the start of Jollett’s account. At this point, their mother is someone to whom they have no real connection. They only know her from occasional visits to the “school” where the children of Synanon all live. Mikel reckons that there is supposed to be some deeper relationship with a “mom” but doesn’t understand how to have that with this woman he barely knows.
From there unravels a story of jaw-dropping situations, child abuse, drug abuse, and self-discovery and growth that will surely capture your attention and your empathy. Mikel Jollett experienced so many things that were wildly outside of my own childhood by the time he was eleven. To be witness to his story and his personal development is a unique reading experience. By the end, you’re caring for the people in his life as much as you do for beloved characters in a fictional story.
For some reason, I read slower at the end of the book, I’m not sure if it had to do with the subject matter, my lack of sleep at home (we’ve got a newborn), or that I didn’t want the book to end. It’s a thick piece of art. It’s only fair to call it that. It’s clearly something Jollett poured his heart into even when the recounting of these memories was surely painful and difficult.
I can understand why this would be compared to Educated and although the authors certainly have different writing styles and vastly different stories, their lives are equally absorbing.
Another truly creative aspect of this memoir is the accompanying album that Jollett's band, The Airborne Toxic Event, created to be released in tandem.
But the cover doesn’t always put me over the edge to get the book into my hands. That’s when I saw Hollywood Park recommended for fans of Educated by Tara Westover. Educated was the first memoir I had read in a while that felt like it had such substance. This came after a slew of celebrity memoirs which are entertaining but generally pretty surface-level material.
One of the creative aspects of this book was way Jollett’s writing developed from start to finish. When the book begins, we’re introduced to Mikel as a child and the writing exactly captures the way a child speaks and understands the world. This child has certainly had a different experience since he was raised at Synanon, a California cult that practiced removing children from their parents’ care at only 6 months old. Imagine how different a child self-explains their reality when their lives are played with on the whim and desires of a cult leader.
As Mikel ages so too does the prose. There are more complex sentences and deeper concepts explored. Mikel and his brother, Tony, escape the cult with their mother at the start of Jollett’s account. At this point, their mother is someone to whom they have no real connection. They only know her from occasional visits to the “school” where the children of Synanon all live. Mikel reckons that there is supposed to be some deeper relationship with a “mom” but doesn’t understand how to have that with this woman he barely knows.
From there unravels a story of jaw-dropping situations, child abuse, drug abuse, and self-discovery and growth that will surely capture your attention and your empathy. Mikel Jollett experienced so many things that were wildly outside of my own childhood by the time he was eleven. To be witness to his story and his personal development is a unique reading experience. By the end, you’re caring for the people in his life as much as you do for beloved characters in a fictional story.
For some reason, I read slower at the end of the book, I’m not sure if it had to do with the subject matter, my lack of sleep at home (we’ve got a newborn), or that I didn’t want the book to end. It’s a thick piece of art. It’s only fair to call it that. It’s clearly something Jollett poured his heart into even when the recounting of these memories was surely painful and difficult.
I can understand why this would be compared to Educated and although the authors certainly have different writing styles and vastly different stories, their lives are equally absorbing.
Another truly creative aspect of this memoir is the accompanying album that Jollett's band, The Airborne Toxic Event, created to be released in tandem.