"Hollywood Park" [A Memoir] (2020) - Book Review
MY REVIEW
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Celadon Books (May 26,
2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250621569
ISBN-13: 978-1250621566
Click Picture for Purchase Information
“We were never young. We were just too afraid
of ourselves. No one told us who we were or what we were or where all our
parents went. They would arrive like ghosts, visiting us for a morning, an
afternoon. They would sit with us or walk around the grounds, to laugh or cry
or toss us in the air while we screamed. Then they’d disappear again, for
weeks, for months, for years, leaving us alone with our memories and dreams,
our questions and confusion …
So
begins Hollywood Park, Mikel
Jollett’s remarkable memoir. His story opens in an experimental commune in
California, which later morphed into the Church of Synanon, one of the
country’s most infamous and dangerous cults. Per the leader’s mandate, all
children, including Jollett and his older brother, were separated from their
parents when they were six months old, and handed over to the cult’s “School.”
After spending years in what was essentially an orphanage, Mikel escaped the
cult one morning with his mother and older brother. But in many ways, life
outside Synanon was even harder and more erratic.
In his
raw, poetic and powerful voice, Jollett portrays a childhood filled with abject
poverty, trauma, emotional abuse, delinquency and the lure of drugs and
alcohol. Raised by a clinically depressed mother, tormented by his angry older
brother, subjected to the unpredictability of troubled step-fathers and longing
for contact with his father, a former heroin addict and ex-con, Jollett slowly,
often painfully, builds a life that leads him to Stanford University and,
eventually, to finding his voice as a writer and musician.
Hollywood Park is told at first through the limited perspective of a child, and
then broadens as Jollett begins to understand the world around him. Although
Mikel Jollett’s story is filled with heartbreak, it is ultimately an
unforgettable portrayal of love at its fiercest and most loyal.”
Thank you in advance to the publisher, Celadon
Books, for providing a complimentary UNCORRECTED advanced review copy. A
positive review was not required. All words are my own.
Some “trigger” or content warnings might
include:
* Cult Living
* Heavy Drug Use
* Alcoholism
* Foul and questionable language
* Underage drinking, drug use, and smoking
* Physical Abuse
Anyone who is disturbed by the content should
probably avoid this book.
The premise of the book was interesting – a child
who was in a cult/commune escapes with his mother and brother, lives in
poverty, tries to figure out his role as a son and his mother’s role in his
life, and recounts his life experiences as a result of that life – delinquency,
living with his father, and making a choice not to head to prison like his
father did. This is a brutally honest, jarring memoir with raw and realistic
language.
I had never heard of the Indie Band “The Toxic
Airborne Event” and I hadn’t I heard of Mikel Jollett prior to reading this
either.
Despite being born in the mid-late 1970’s
(about two years after the author), I had never heard of Synanon. Nor did I
know that at one point the courts referred drug offenders to the group for
rehab.
At one point for his movie, THX 1138,
George Lucas needed a large group of people with shaved heads, and so he hired
some of his extras from Synanon. In addition, for the movie California
Split, Director Robert Altman hired members of Synanon to be extras.
There was also the 1965 movie, Synanon,
starring Edmond O'Brien as Chuck Dederich, as well as Chuck
Connors, Stella Stevens, Richard Conte, Eartha Kitt, and Alex Cord
(Airwolf 1984-1987).
In addition; the 1968 season 1, episode 22
[“Delayed Action”] of Mannix featured Synanon.
Synopsis: “The first clue in a mysterious
hit-and-run leads Mannix to a rehab center where discovers that the case is
connected to a 20-year-old crime”. [Richard Bull (Night
Court), Ned Glass, Walter Koenig (Star Trek), Ronald Long,
and Louise Sorel guest star].
Those facts show that this cult was definitely
prominent for quite a while.
So, there was a lot about this cult I didn’t
even know, and so much that could’ve been explored. What is surprising is the
memoir only covers Mikel’s escape from the cult and his life going forward, and
is told over four parts:
** Escape
** Oregon
** California (where he goes
to live with his dad and “step-mom”)
** Hollywood Park
To be honest, I was very disappointed with the
book. And, I say that with a lot of reluctance. I know that memoirs,
biographies, auto-biographies are often hit or miss with some people. For
those who enjoy memoirs or books of this time, it will not be an easy read. I
found it difficult to read and get through. It definitely was not as I thought it
would be.
It starts with Mikel’s point of view as a child
and a limited perspective of what is going on, which is to be expected. After
all a child has a limited vocabulary and sense of the world around them.
However, it probably would’ve worked better if he would’ve written it as an
adult looking back as a child with “as a child, this was …” rather than writing
it as if the child was telling the story.
Some of the other issues with this memoir:
** “That a$$hole Reagan” became like a mantra.
We get it, the author and his family were not fans of Reagan or his policies
regarding mental health. Since it isn’t a political debate, such criticism can’t
be constructive.
** FAR too much dialogue, almost like
recounting entire conversations rather than trying to summarize what they were about
and in what context they were about or for. It was also like this was a cross
between a fiction story and memoir. It became nearly monotonous and boring. Which
I am very sorry to say.
** Lack of emphasis on Jollett’s published
works before starting the band. Why did he choose the publications he did, why
did he choose the topics he wrote abou. Also, why did he choose the major he
did in college.
** The lack of a timeline to sort out the
events and when they occurred, ie: what year did they leave, when did he move in
with his dad, what year was his nephew born? While this is an UNCORRECTED ARC,
I believe the inclusion of a timeline would have been beneficial. It might also
help the reader identify better to the time period.
Most of the book featured the delinquency
between him and his brother, as well the never-ending issues with his
narcissistic mother. The reader doesn’t find the true nature of his mother’s “illness”
until the very end. I had a feeling there wasn’t something right about her as I
was reading it. In addition what was more disturbing was the fact that she was
working at a mental hospital and with patients.
His “step-mom”, Bonnie, was at one time one of
his “care-takers” at Synanon and due to the nature of the children being taken
away from their parents at six (6) months old, Mikel bonded more with Bonnie
than he did his own mother. This is understandable. However, despite Bonnie’s
involvement in the cult, after her escape, she seemed to fair better mentally
than Mikel’s mother did.
Interestingly enough, the kids were spared a
custody battle between their parents. Instead, both their mother and father
agreed to let the kids live where they thrived. However, Mikel’s mother was
closer to him than she was to his older brother. This does cause some issues
when Mikel wants to remain with his father and his mother’s behavior grows
disturbing, as if it wasn’t already.
It isn’t until around chapter 32 that the story
gets a bit more interesting, and seemingly more in-depth. By chapter 35 Jollett’s
father starts what I’d call “maturing”. It is clear that after Mikel’s accident
something has changed in the dynamic between the two and his father “stepped up”.
In chapter 36 (incidentally where the HOLLYWOOD
PARK section begins), Jollett does spend a brief amount of time on the history
of the cult. This is as a result of being in college and doing a paper on the
psychology of it. But it is only a tiny portion.
So much of the history is left out as I said.
And, while this is his memoir, I think the reader could benefit from having
more of the history of the cult to truly see how kids like him were affected.
Without research, I wouldn’t have been able to figure out what kind of a cult
this was. The book wasn’t informative there.
Five chapters later (chapter 41), when Mikel is
now in the band – he talks about the tours they’re doing. The reason I mention
this is a phrase that is used well over 40 times – “and the next” in reference
to the touring. It is repetitious and unnecessary in my opinion. I get it, I am
sure other readers get the point – the band toured from town to town (as do
MANY in the music industry). I get that it was done for emphasis, but it didn’t
need to be done quite so much. To me it looked like there was a push for a word
count to be met and that was the only way of meeting it.
This is listed as “The 30 Most Anticipated
Books of 2020 (so Far)” by Oprah Magazine [https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/g30107265/best-books-2020/],
and thankfully I don’t use that as a recommendation tool, so I wasn’t
disappointed in that respect.
I feel this could’ve had more of an impact
without the foul language, with a more in-depth history of the cult, perhaps
more of the psychological trauma and healing, as well as a chronological guide.
I didn’t find it uplifting, inspiring, or even
motivational in anyway. It was a depressing read for the most part, and I couldn’t
finish it fast enough. It just fell flat for me, and while memoirs are not
usually riveting reads – this one was a bit boring. I feel bad that I just
couldn’t connect to it.
It had a potential to perhaps tell about the author’s
past while being a bit educational. And, it was, a way of trying to understand
human behavior – whether or not they were influenced by a cult, criminal parent,
or narcissistic parent.
I am sure that fans of the band (or author) might
find this an interesting read, as well as those who have or had relatives/friends
in a cult; or know of ones in one. Perhaps anyone dealing with a similar
scenario might find this interesting.
At the bottom of this review, I have some notes
about Synanon as well as links to additional reading.
This is something I probably would recommend as
a library read first to test it out or borrow a friend’s copy if the reader is
interested.
RATING:
2 ⭐⭐ /5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads (It was ok)
2 ⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub (Disappointing)
2 ⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating
explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)
(this would align with the Goodreads rating)
History of Synanon:
The Synanon organization was a
violent cult, initially a drug rehabilitation program, founded by
Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich Sr., (1913–1997) in 1958 in Santa
Monica, California. By the early 1960s, Synanon had also become
an alternative community, attracting people with its emphasis on living a
self-examined life, as aided by group truth-telling sessions that came to be
known as the “Synanon Game.” Synanon ultimately became the Church of
Synanon in the 1970s, and disbanded permanently in 1991 due
to many criminal activities, including attempted murder, of which members were
convicted, and legal problems, including losing its tax free status
retroactively with the Internal Revenue Service due to financial
misdeeds, destruction of evidence and terrorism. It has been called one of the
"most dangerous and violent cults America had ever seen.” [Summary taken
from Wikipedia; you can find the sources there].
Beginning in 1964, the legal authorities
began to investigate Synanon's practices. The concept of “lifetime
rehabilitation” did not agree with therapeutic norms, and it was alleged that
the Synanon group was running an unauthorized medical clinic.
A state Grand Jury in Marin County
issued a scathing report in 1978 that attacked Synanon for the very strong
evidence of its child abuse, and also for the monetary profits that flowed
to Dederich. The Grand Jury report also rebuked the governmental authorities involved
for their lack of oversight, although it stopped short of directly interceding
in the Synanon situation.
Synanon is purported to have been involved in
several criminal activities, such as the disappearance of Rose Lena Cole around
late-1972 or early-1973. Cole had received a court order to enroll in Synanon
before she disappeared. She has not been seen or heard from since. [http://charleyproject.org/case/rose-lena-cole].
From The Charley Project Website:
“It is worth noting that the Synanon Foundation has often been labeled as a cult. It was founded as a drug rehabilitation program in 1958 and became an alternative community by the 1960s and a church by the 1970s.
Participants were expected to turn all of their assets over to the group and join the community for life. Those who left the group were often persecuted and even beaten as a result. The IRS shut the Synanon Foundation down in 1989.”
“It is worth noting that the Synanon Foundation has often been labeled as a cult. It was founded as a drug rehabilitation program in 1958 and became an alternative community by the 1960s and a church by the 1970s.
Participants were expected to turn all of their assets over to the group and join the community for life. Those who left the group were often persecuted and even beaten as a result. The IRS shut the Synanon Foundation down in 1989.”
During the summer of 1978, the NBC Nightly
News produced a news segment on the controversies surrounding Synanon.
Following this broadcast, several executives of the NBC network and
its corporate chairman allegedly received hundreds of threats from Synanon
members and supporters. However, NBC continued with a series of
reports on the Synanon situation on the NBC Nightly News. The Point
Reyes Light, a small-circulation weekly newspaper in Marin County,
would later receive the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for their
covering Synanon at a time when other news agencies avoided reporting. Several
weeks after NBC began receiving threats, on October 10, 1978, two Synanon
members placed a de-rattled rattlesnake in the mailbox of
attorney Paul Morantz of Pacific Palisades, California.
Morantz had successfully brought suit on behalf
of people who were being held against their will by Synanon. The snake bit him,
and he was hospitalized for six days. This incident, along with
the press coverage, prompted an investigation by the police and government into
Synanon.
Read More About Synanon Here:
“The Story of This Drug
Rehab-Turned-Violent Cult Is Wild, Wild Country-Caliber Bizarre” – Hillel
Aron; April 23, 2018 (LA Mag)
https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/synanon-cult/
https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/synanon-cult/
Wikipedia Synanon References
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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