Acid for the Children: A Memoir

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FLEA: Yes. I'm nervous for him to read it. And you know, he wrote a book, and I've never read his book. And he wrote his book 15 years ago or something, and I've never read it. And I see this guy constantly.

Flea, like Anthony Kiedis, lived a tumultuous childhood and adolescence, to the extent that no embellishment (or, fortunately, professional book-writing experience) is necessary to convey the weirdness and wildness of his early days. I was audibly repulsed reading about how, at a party, he and a handful of others held out their arms while another party-goer went down the line injecting them all with meth (with the same needle each time, of course - this isn't Sesame Street). And that's just one of many amazing anecdotes Flea has bouncing around in his brain. He really should have died multiple times (his words, paraphrased), and that makes for a great story. Dejo por aquí un fragmento que está ya por el final del libro y que me ha dejado rotita por dentro: Zbog toga je prikaz knjige Acid for the Children jedan od najtežih, ali i najdražih. Jer, kako ostati objektivan kada je knjigu napisao čovjek koji je 1983. sa Anthony Kiedisem oformio RHCP, čija muzika me, bez pretjerivanja mogu reći, u određenom smislu oblikovala kao ličnost i bila tu kada nikog drugog nije bilo. Ali, hajde da pokušam.His parents separate and he describes the relationship with his step dad Walter. Walter is at once a wildly unpredictable alcoholic and a source of inspiration for Flea through this dedication to his Jazz music. The book is full of amazing stories and traces his life through different bands including Fear up to the first time RHCP perform. Acid for the Childrenis the debut of a stunning new literary voice, whose prose is as witty, entertaining, and wildly unpredictable as the author himself. It's a tenderly evocative coming-of-age story and a raucous love letter to the power of music and creativity from one of the most renowned musicians of our time.

And you know, people love how they know how, you know? You know, we - people - you know, I think about - I learned later that he had been, you know, horrifically abused by his parents and the amount that he was able to love me was, you know, light-years ahead of what he got, you know? And so in retrospect, I'm grateful for what he was able to give me and that, you know - and I do forgive, and I've really come to terms with that stuff. Acid for the Children is the debut of a stunning new literary voice, whose prose is as witty, entertaining, and wildly unpredictable as the author himself. It's a tenderly evocative coming-of-age story and a raucous love letter to the power of music and creativity from one of the most renowned musicians of our time.

And about his thoughts on the era we were kids and teens during (hippie movement to punk/pre AIDS to post AIDS), I have similar thoughts. The bibliophiles among you will be pleased to learn that our author is an avid reader as well as a keen musician. A huge fan of Vonnegut, Flea, and his sister grew up devouring books, a passion they both share to this day. Clearly, Flea has learned a thing or two from all the reading he’s done, as he proves himself to be almost as gifted with the pen/typewriter/word processor, as he is with the bass or trumpet. Flea’s writing style was as appealing to me as many of the classic authors I’ve read and I greatly enjoyed how deep his writing could be, whilst also being pithy, fun, and unpretentious. He revels in the English language, using long, interesting words, as well as the sort of cursing and gibberish you might hear from two drunks staggering out of a pub, but it’s all to great effect. Truly, I would like to read more from Mr. Balzary though, by his own admission, his sister is the great writer of the family. Brojna poglavlja govore o njihovim svakodnevnim avanturama, dinamičnom odnosu u kojem su često riječima i djelima povrijeđivali jedan drugog, ali odnosu koji je oduvijek bio predodređen, koji je sam univerzum udesio, kako bi jednog mršavog, nesigurnog dječaka vinuli u neslućene visine, i pokazali mu kako je svojim radom i talentom moguće dodirnuti srca ljudi.