Mikel Jollett had a lot to survive from the start: early childhood trauma, emotional neglect, poverty, multiple adverse childhood events, and contending with the adults around him who have severe mental illness and addiction. His escape from the Synanon cult doesn't entirely liberate him. He is denied nourishment. He is denied sweetness. He tries running to get unstuck.
As the world around him comes into focus, Jollet's voice ages into fine, winding prose around the story of a boy, then a man, just trying to be ok with himself. As Jollett comes of age, he thinks about what it means for every night to be a celebration of something, to meet his heroes, to have some of his wildest dreams come true, to feel great love and great loss at alternating turns, and to name the dysfunction and abuse of his childhood. Hollywood Park is a compelling, suprising read, generous of self and spirit, and filled with humanity and hope.
As the world around him comes into focus, Jollet's voice ages into fine, winding prose around the story of a boy, then a man, just trying to be ok with himself. As Jollett comes of age, he thinks about what it means for every night to be a celebration of something, to meet his heroes, to have some of his wildest dreams come true, to feel great love and great loss at alternating turns, and to name the dysfunction and abuse of his childhood. Hollywood Park is a compelling, suprising read, generous of self and spirit, and filled with humanity and hope.