Acid for the Children: A Memoir
"Virtuostic vulnerability." --The Atlantic
In Acid for the Children, Flea takes readers on a deeply personal and revealing tour of his formative years, spanning from Australia to the New York City suburbs to, finally, Los Angeles. Through hilarious anecdotes, poetical meditations, and occasional flights of fantasy, Flea deftly chronicles the experiences that forged him as an artist, a musician, and a young man.
His dreamy, jazz-inflected prose makes the Los Angeles of the 1970s and 80s come to gritty, glorious life, including the potential for fun, danger, mayhem, or inspiration that lurked around every corner. It is here that young Flea, looking to escape a turbulent home, found family in a community of musicians, artists, and junkies who also lived on the fringe. He spent most of his time partying and committing petty crimes. But it was in music where he found a higher meaning, a place to channel his frustration, loneliness, and love. This left him open to the life-changing moment when he and his best friends, soul brothers, and partners-in-mischief came up with the idea to start their own band, which became the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Acid for the Children 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.
A #1 LA Times Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
One of NPR's "Favorite Books of the Year"
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Community Reviews
As a huge fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers it was a no-brainer to buy this book when I saw a signed copy while perusing a book store.
Flea has always fascinated me with his crazy antics and I had hoped that his talent went beyond telling a story just through music and I must say I think he did a great job with this memoir.
I decided to listen to the audio book rather than read my hardcopy because to my delight Flea narrates it himself!
He did a great job expressing the range of emotions he speaks of while also keeping it quirky and true to the Flea we know.
In this book we see Flea as a young boy living in Australia up until around age 20 as he begins to dip his feet into the rock and roll world. It is stated that a book two will be released picking up where this book left off, at the start of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
We learn that he is so much more than a rock star; he has a deeply caring soul and is a well read, avid reader with a fondness for Kurt Vonnegut and Charles Bukowski.
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