Trailer Park Parable

“Attempted murder victim told the Brainerd Dispatch she believes her sixteen-year-old son saved her.” This is the news article detailing the event that would drastically change Tyler Zed’s life and that of his family forever. Growing up in a small town in Minnesota, Tyler and his two brothers filled their days with chaotic fun, from playing hockey to building forts to making their own home movies. The household was also full of addiction and abuse that ultimately led to their father attempting to murder their mother on Christmas Eve 2007. Trailer Park Parable follows Tyler and his family before Christmas Eve 2007, the events leading to that night, and the years afterward. It trails the boys as they deal with varying degrees of PTSD and their own battles with addiction, before they eventually turned their creative coping mechanisms, like their YouTube channels, into million-subscriber successes. From living in a trailer park to running a multi-million-dollar business, Trailer Park Parable highlights a true, American-dream story, countering a popular narrative that tells us you may as well not even try, the system is rigged against you.

"Jimmy Lee was the best shooter from 15-feet I have ever seen. If he got his shot, he made it. Early, middle, or late in games - it did not matter when. Jimmy had great fundamentals, he worked hard and he shot the ball with great confidence. He was so consistent; if he missed a shot you thought it was an accident. His thoughts and techniques can help anyone improve their free throw shooting" Jim Boeheim - Head Coach at Syracuse University, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Class of 2005; 2008 Olympic Gold Medal, Team USA, 2010 World Championship Gold Medal, Team USA; 2010 Division I Coach of the Year "Jim Lee and I were contemporaries at Syracuse. He played in the games - I talked about them. I remember him as a clutch shooter (in the 1975 NCAA Tournament, his 18-footer with 3 seconds left upset North Carolina, and paved the way for Syracuse's first trip to the Final Four). Since Jimmy was pretty close to automatic from the foul line, just about every player, at every level, can benefit from his advice and proven approach." Bob Costas - NBC Sports "This is a rare book, because Jim is able to weave together invaluable skills instruction with a very personal and informative story about his relationships with teammates, coaches, and most importantly his family. Jim's father, as both a veteran and a person with disabilities, clearly served as an exemplar for Jim with regard to how he approached basketball - and how he approached life. This is clearly illustrated by the fact that Jim has committed to leverage the proceeds from sales of this book to improve the lives of this generation of veterans with disabilities. On so many levels, Jim's book is powerfully positioned to impart lessons about basketball and life that are meaningful and timeless." Mike Haynie, PhD - Executive Director, Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Syracuse University; Barnes Professor of Entrepreneurship, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University "Fifteen Feet For Free is an easy read for all ages. It can be very helpful for kids just beginning their basketball days, and I can see a great benefit for more experienced players. The fundamental instructions in this book can easily improve a player's free throw percentage." Morgan Wootten - 1,274 wins as Head Basketball Coach at DeMatha HS; Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Class of 2000; National Coach of the 20th Century; Four-time recipient of National Coach of the Year; 10-time recipient of Coach of the Year in the Washington D.C. Area "The fundamentals of great free throw shooting are in complete alignment with the values of practice, repetition, goal sitting, and mental calm that successful business people employ. Jim gets this and writes about it in an amazingly real and compelling way." Mike Perlis - President and CEO, Forbes Media

Since he was twelve, Brandon Sulser has survived four brushes with death. One of those life-threatening injuries left him paralyzed from the chest down. Although his life story appears to be unfair, Brandon knows that life is only negative and hard if you allow it to be. And in his experience, we are all paralyzed in our own way, by bad choices, by circumstance, by illness, etc. His paralysis happens to be more obvious than most, but make no mistake; we are all paralyzed. But we don't have to stay that way.

Winner of the Giller Prize 2015 Winner of the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize 2015 It begins in a bar, like so many strange stories. The gods Hermes and Apollo argue about what would happen if animals had human intelligence, so they make a bet that leads them to grant consciousness and language to a group of dogs staying overnight at a veterinary clinic. Suddenly capable of complex thought, the dogs escape and become a pack. They are torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change. The gods watch from above as the dogs venture into unfamiliar territory, as they become divided among themselves, as each struggles with new thoughts and feelings. Wily Benjy moves from home to home, Prince becomes a poet, and Majnoun forges a relationship with a kind couple that stops even the Fates in their tracks. Engaging and strange, full of unexpected insights into human and canine minds, this contemporary take on the apologue is the most extraordinary book you'll read this year.

“The makings of a cult classic…” Michael Santino, author of The Frontline “Captivating, energetic, and romantic. And viciously dark—all in less than 10 pages.” Mary Lewis, author of Me and You Dark Lords of the Trailer Park is an exploration of redemption in unexpected places. A riveting deep dive into the complexities of human nature, the triumphs and challenges of society's outcasts. Trigger Warning: Includes Some Graphic Content. Amazon Reviews: ★★★★★ “You won't be able to leave one of these stories half-finished.” ★★★★★ “Some readers may not like...the eclectic switch of literary genres. For me, it was a very good read.” ★★★★★ “Each story comes with a sharp, barbed hook, & each one gives a fine view of the rotting underbelly like a collection of Tom Waits songs.”

"Todd Robert Petersen is crazy–talented, and the wild, weird, hilarious stories of It Needs to Look Like We Tried are just what’s called for in these bizarre, frightening times." —Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and Trajectory A domino chain of failures draws Todd Robert Petersen's characters together in these interconnected stories, despite hopes, dreams, and their best–laid plans Everyone has a dream, an idea, a goal. But what happens when those desires are thwarted, when dreams and goals fall apart? In It Needs to Look Like We Tried, Todd Robert Petersen explores the ways in which our failures work on the lives of others, weaving an intricate web of interconnected stories. A fastidious man takes a detour on the way to his father’s wedding and kicks off a series of events that ricochets from the bride to her real estate clients; to a crazed former homeowner and his sister–in–law’s reality TV lover; to a hoarding family whose lives are wrecked by their appearance on the second–rate show. Their daughter decides to escape the gravity of her tiny town with the help of her boyfriend who has a not–quite–legal plan to scrape together enough money to fund their departure. On their way across the country, these star–crossed lovers encounter our fastidious man, and the Rube Goldberg machine of life continues. Their fling has petered out, and they are driving home, whatever home is left after walking away from everything they abandoned months before.

**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** “A Gen-X This Boy’s Life...Music and his fierce brilliance boost Jollett; a visceral urge to leave his background behind propels him to excel... In the end, Jollett shakes off the past to become the captain of his own soul. Hollywood Park is a triumph." —O, The Oprah Magazine "This moving and profound memoir is for anyone who loves a good redemption story." —Good Morning America, 20 Books We're Excited for in 2020 "Several years ago, Jollett began writing Hollywood Park, the gripping and brutally honest memoir of his life. Published in the middle of the pandemic, it has gone on to become one of the summer’s most celebrated books and a New York Times best seller..." –Los Angeles Magazine HOLLYWOOD PARK is a remarkable memoir of a tumultuous life. Mikel Jollett was born into one of the country’s most infamous cults, and subjected to a childhood filled with poverty, addiction, and emotional abuse. Yet, ultimately, his is a story of fierce love and family loyalty told in a raw, poetic voice that signals the emergence of a uniquely gifted writer. 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.