Review: Hollywood Park (by Mikel Jollett)

My Rating: 4 stars

I’m not sure that I have the words to describe my feelings after reading Mikel Jollett’s truly remarkable memoir Hollywood Park.  The very first thing that caught my attention with this book was the title, as it shared a name with a place that I used to be very familiar with and it made me curious, whether it was merely a coincidence or actually a reference to what I thought it was.  Even after reading the summary, I still wasn’t sure, as there was no mention of the inspiration for the title – all I knew was that Mikel and his brother Tony were born into a commune in California that later became the notorious Church of Synanon cult and this story was about their escape as well as the aftermath, following Mikel’s life as a child through adulthood.  It wasn’t until a few chapters in, when Mikel wrote about him and his brother spending the summer months with their father Jim, who lived in Los Angeles, that I knew for sure what Hollywood Park referred to.  For Mikel, the famous horse racing venue was a place of fond memories, where he got to spend a lot of quality time with his beloved father -- a former heroin addict and ex-con – and also where some of the most important father-son talks of his life occurred.   But Mikel’s story went so much deeper than that – from escaping Synanon at 5 years old, through a childhood living with his emotionally abusive mother in Oregon, in conditions that exacerbated an already volatile relationship with his brother, then later living with his father and step-mother in California, Mikel experienced a coming-of-age fraught with struggles involving drug and alcohol addiction, poverty, delinquency, loneliness, neglect, and abuse (the latter of which had the most impact on him going into adulthood). 

Mikel Jollett’s memoir – the chronicle of his trials and tribulations, joys and triumphs -- resonated deeply with me on an especially personal level, to the point that I read much of the book with tears streaming down my face.   Growing up in Los Angeles, I actually lived in Westchester and worked near the airport up until about 10 years ago, so I was quite familiar with many of the places mentioned in the book that, at one point or another, had a profound impact on Mikel’s journey:  Orville Wright Junior High (now known as Orville Wright Middle School, this was a school my brother and I almost attended except that our parents decided later to put us in a private school instead), Westchester High (the school my brother attended for 4 years, and where my mom and I would wait in our one and only car in the parking lot every day to pick him up), the Red Onion on Manchester Avenue (a restaurant with great food that I remember eating at many times, which closed down decades ago), El Dorado Bowling Alley (which has since changed names and also owners), Playa Del Rey (a now mostly residential beachside town in Los Angeles), and of course, Hollywood Park (the former racetrack turned casino that will soon be the new home of the NFL team Los Angeles Rams).  Hearing all these places mentioned again – places where I had spent countless childhood days – brought back so many memories, both good and bad.  The part that resonated with me the most though, was Mikel’s detailed account of the devastating impact that his father’s addiction and his mother’s illness had on him and his brother.  Despite my background being very different from Mikel’s, one commonality we do share (outside of spending most of our childhoods in Los Angeles) is that, for most of my life, I’ve also had to deal with a father with an addiction (not drugs, but gambling and drinking) as well as a mother whom I now realize (after decades trying to figure it out) has the same “illness” as  Mikel’s mother.  For so long, I’ve had many of the same warped experiences, feelings, emotions that Mikel went through, yet it’s not until now that I truly understand what has been happening.  I am actually floored by how much clarity about my own life and my personal experiences that reading this memoir has given me.

This was a heart-wrenching read for me, one that elicited so many emotions, yet I’m so glad I got the chance to read it.  Most impressive to me is the way Mikel structured his story, which he narrates first from the perspective of a young child, then a teenager, and finally, an adult.  By relaying his story in a way that reflects how he grew up and came to understand the world around him, Mikel Jollett gives us a raw and powerful account of his remarkable journey.   I know for me, this is a memoir that, for sure, I won’t soon forget!

Received ARC from Celadon Books as part of Early Reader program.