Thanks to Celadon Books for the free advance copy of this book.

Mikel Jollett was born into Synanon, a drug rehab program turned cult. When he was five, his grandparents rescued him, along with his mother and older brother. HOLLYWOOD PARK is an account of Jollett's post-Synanon life, told from his perspective as a child growing up in a troubled, fractured family.

If you are drawn to memoirs like EDUCATED or THE GLASS CASTLE, get your hands on HOLLYWOOD PARK immediately. I could not put it down and tore through it in a weekend. You need not be familiar with Jollett or his current career as frontman of Airborne Toxic Event in order to appreciate his story.

This is a story of a life lived under siege, of a child looking for love and answers and finding no support. The early chapters, with Jollett writing in the voice of a small child, are particularly heartbreaking given that we can see how his relatives are failing him and how the few adults who see his cries for help are pushed away, though the boy does not understand why he feels lost. As Jollett grows up and begins to understand his own trauma, discover community in music, and begin to figure out how to break the cycle for the next generation, I was moved to tears.

Content warnings for drug and alcohol abuse, emotional and physical abuse, animal abuse, suicide, and probably other stuff, too.