I found this worthy of the read as a chili pepper fan. Certainly perspective on drug addiction along with expected celebrity candy fun. 4 stars for personal enjoyment

Though on the longer side (465 pages), I read this book quicker than most half its size. Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis is an incredibly engaging and inspirational autobiography (not sure how much of a hand Larry Sloman had in this, but for this review, I'll assume this book was all AK), that is as much about the horror-yet-subtle-beauty of addiction as it is about Kiedis’s rise as the front man of one of rock’s greatest and most enduring bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers. There’s an element of spirituality and exuberance woven through every inch of the text, even the most sordid, which raises the book well above the “shock value” trap a lot of rocker biographies fall into, and gives the book a meaning and purpose that kept me coming back for more. Though mostly functional and straight-forward, the prose fits the story perfectly. Let’s be clear: Anthony Kiedis does not now, nor has he ever, given a fuck what you think. He’s going to tell his story his way, and that’s exactly what he’s done here. He spews a number of clichés and uses simple, informal language, then out of nowhere will toss in a beautiful metaphor or sagacious insight brimming with the type of creativity that can only come from a man who’s lived his own way, but none of it sounds bland or forced. It all works because he’s not trying, but he’s not trying to not try. He just is, and the beauty spills out of him as a result, which one of the many great themes, and lessons, of the story.

I’ve been an RHCP fan since I first discovered good music sometime in middle school. Blood Sugar Sex Magik and One Hot Minute provided the soundtrack for my early adolescence and videos for songs like Give it Away, Under the Bridge, and Aeroplane shaped the way that I saw music as a visual expression. I quickly learned the lyrics to a number of Kiedis’s songs, and sang the hell out of them even though I never knew their meaning and never knew the story of the man behind the music. One of the reasons why I loved this book so much is that it shared this story and also some perspective into the strange phrasings and bravado behind AKs lyrics, which has given me more confidence with my own song writing. I remember singing along to Aeroplane when I was 13 and having no idea what the hell any of it meant. I just knew it added up to something special. Understanding the meaning and writing process behind these songs has made the art of song-writing less daunting for me. Somewhere along the way in my own life, I felt that music was just an extension of the chaos of everyday existence, and that there was no order to anything. It’s valuable to see that, even in chaos, there can be sweet, beautiful, simple meaning. But this is only one of the many benefits this book has added to my life.

Scar Tissue focuses on the events of Kiedis’s life that have shaped him into an artist and addict. The first hundred pages or so explore his pre-band world, growing up as a troubled kid who enjoyed pushing boundaries and defying authority. After his parents divorced, he split time between living with his mother in Michigan and his father in LA, but he felt he truly belonged in Hollywood (thus began his lifelong love affair with LA, which is another theme in the book) with his party animal, wannabe actor, addict father, who introduced him to the wild party scene at an early age. Anthony got high for the first time at age 4 when his father blew marijuana smoke in his face, and the hazy celebration never seemed to stop. Anthony’s childhood was filled with heavy drugs, whores, sex, and constant celebration, which brought him into contact with a number of celebrities, including Cher and Keith Moon who seemed to be among the only voices of reason in Anthony’s young life (and let’s face it, if Keith Moon is one of your only role models as a kid, you’re pretty much screwed). Anthony was precocious kid, filled with creativity and desire, but he lacked direction, and soon became a full-fledged heroin and cocaine addict, living on the streets of LA and hustling his way through the punk scene (getting a firsthand look into the history of this scene is another benefit of this book). Eventually, he finds the direction he craves when he’s asked to rap some of his poetry at a local nightclub as his accomplished musician friends, Flea and Hillel Slovak, already famous in the underground LA music scene, fill in for a band that cancelled a gig at the last moment. They play far better than expected, and thus began the rocky and inspiring rise of one of the greatest rock bands of the 90s.

Though about the rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, this book as much a tale of addiction as it is music. It begins and ends with addiction, and almost every single passage in between is either directly or indirectly about it. Kiedis pulls no punches and gives us the story straight without romanticizing drug use or blaming anyone for his excesses (though he easily could have blamed his father). Kiedis jumps from one drug and one girl to the next regardless—or perhaps, because of—how it seems to torment him, but as he grows, he begins to explore the complexity of his self-destruction, and the inherent beauty in the struggle that leads to great lines in the book, such as, “It’s that appreciation of every emotion in the spectrum that I live for.” His life story is an endless cycle of excess, sobriety, and relapse, but each relapse brings him a little closer to the realization he has in the final chapter that has kept him sober since. This final chapter is a meaningful and satisfying ending to Kiedis’s spiritual quest where he’s finally able to make some sense of his self-destruction. He gives several brilliant insights about the nature of addiction as well as the one true path to sobriety that’s worked for him. One of my favorite quotes adds several layers to the stereotype that addicts are immoral criminals who must be punished: “When I was a teenager and shooting speedballs, I wasn’t thinking, ‘I want to know God,’ but deep down inside, maybe I did.” Before reading this book, I knew AK had struggled with heroin addiction, but I had no idea how bad it was (and it was bad--very, very bad). There were a number of times it looked as though it would take complete control if not for one thing, the light and drive that kept him going: music.

A recurring theme of the book is the healing AK finds in not just making music, but more specifically, making music with his friends. As I got deeper into the story, I began to see a pattern: the more AK was making music with his friends, the more engaged I was with the story. When I pondered this, I realized that it was one of the only things that seemed to have kept Kiedis alive when his addiction was at its worst. But the sheer joy of just being with his friends and operating from what he calls a “telepathic” sense of making music pulled him out of a number of funks that may have otherwise left him dead under a freeway overpass or seedy motel room. A number of times, Kiedis claims that he doesn’t care about the money or fame or hype of it all—he would have just have been happy enough making music with his friends, and I absolutely believe his every word. The energy and connection he shares with his band mates, especially Flea, Hillel, John, and Chad, elevates him to a place far beyond the chaos and terror of everyday living. In his own words, “Each one of these guys, Flea, John, Chad, is individually a bridge to God for me, and there’s nothing I would do to change any of these people or the experiences I’ve had with them.” My favorite chapter was “Funky Monks,” which was not just about the making of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, but about the good vibes and wave of genius each of the band members seemed to have been riding at the time. It seemed as if there was no limit to their creativity, and when John began to withdraw the more famous the band became, I was upset not only to see that wave finally break, but to see how deeply it devastated Kiedis on a personal level to lose such a beloved friend. Seeing the way these guys interacted with one another gives me hope for humanity. Though they may bust each other's balls from time to time, it’s very clear that Flea, and Anthony, and Hillel, and John, and Chad, and Dave, and all of the other musicians who’ve been through the group, love one another unconditionally. There’s a gentle humanity wrapped in every page of the story, and I teared up when Anthony breaks down speaking to Hillel beyond the grave, or when Flea breaks down telling Anthony how worried he gets that he’s going to lose another friend whenever AK disappears on another bender, or when John comes back from the dead for the sole reason of making music again with his friends. So much more than fame or fortune, I’d love to have friends like these, and I think this is another one of the strongest reasons why I loved this book. Music is just an excuse for these guys to express their love for one another, and I think that’s about the highest endeavor anyone could ever possibly hope to accomplish.

I’ll be clear: Anthony Kiedis is no saint. He’s done horrible things to a lot of people, and in many ways, he doesn’t deserve to have friends and family still around him. But in many other ways, he’s done some incredible things for these people that no one else could have done for them. Another main reason I was drawn to the story was the pure love AK had for the people in his life—even those he was screwing over. Though he’s a self-professed asshole, his intentions always seem to be sincere, and even when he’s at his lowest point, he seems genuinely concerned about his family and friends' well being. This is a man who loves above all else. If you get hung up on the times he made his mother cry, or screwed over his band mates, or broke a girlfriend’s heart, you’ll miss out on the deeper reasons why. If you only look at this story with the perspective of those he’s hurt, you’ll only see your own suffering rather than the greater overall theme that, through accepting that suffering, you can achieve peace, love, and healing. I can see why some people think of Kiedis as an animal, but love is complex. Love can look like a man shooting up under a bridge, or smoking crack and crashing a motorcycle, or fucking another woman to hurt the girl sitting on Jack Nicholson’s knee. If you only see love in one way, you’ll miss it in all of its other forms, and that’s one of the best lessons of this book.

To put it simply, I loved this book. It’s so much more than a story about a man’s rise to lead a legendary band. It’s also about unconditional love, and addiction, and family, and music, and friendship, and mother nature, and freedom and excess as a means to find god. There was an exuberance throughout that reminded me of the works of Kerouac. That even in the darkest of times, Kerouac couldn’t quite help but feel overwhelmed by his love of life and marvel of the wonderful world surrounding him. I got that same feel with Scar Tissue. This story inspired me on a number of levels, and I often found myself stopping to write song lyrics, story ideas, poems, ponder my own existence, my place in the cosmos, as I continued, and now that it’s over, I feel as though I’ve lost a spiritual guide—but at least I’ll always have Kiedis’s music.

Anthony Kiedis, I didn’t know you at all when I picked up this book that belongs to my 20 year old daughter. I did know that both she and my 24 year old son love Red Hot Chili Peppers and I knew you were in it. That’s all. I now know you were/are? a raging heroin/coke addict, you had sex with every female you wanted to + more (probably) and you were a pretty good rocker—when you weren’t in a hotel shooting heroin, which seemed like 90% of the time. Also, as I read your well-written (ghost-written) book, I was glad you went chronologically through your life. I wish the photos in the book had, too. I found myself trying to remember where I’d seen some girl’s photo, and thinking, “Wait, that should be in the 3rd grouping of photos because he’d screwed her after so-and-so. I like to keep things straight. My major impressions:

•tYour father should’ve been incarcerated for giving you drugs at 12
•tYou father should’ve been incarcerated for giving you his girlfriend to have sex with when you were 13
•tYour have a strong ego, or so it seems, always. I do think that losing Hillel and worrying that you aren’t a good singer, and having to fire band members, and contracting hepatitis weren’t easy things. I appreciated the way you spoke of these things, because they made you, a real monster in a way, more human. What I don’t understand is why some people feel they don’t have to abide by the simple rules of society that say drugs are a bad idea, and sleeping with a ton of women is a bad idea.
•tI found the way you said things with girlfriends “wasn’t working out” and then broke up with them only added to my feeling that you think a lot of yourself. I don’t recall you ever trying hard to patch things up. But then, you were too busy trying to get your next fix. I guess you did mention several times that druggies only care about drugs, and that you don’t care about other people when you’re drug-hungry, and it’s those moments of insight into how you affect the world at large that made me like you and have sympathy for a very unsympathetic person.

Also, I didn’t get the sense that you were upset about being such a disappointment to your mother, who seems, along with your sister and stepfather, to have been a well-adjusted, stable citizen and person. The impression I got was that she was in denial of sorts, so she didn’t have that much to say about your lifestyle? Not sure. I think I recall reading how they were present for one of your interventions. Well, anyway, you owe her flowers every day of her life now. And apologies. I’m sure it broke her heart for you to have gone the way you did on Life’s path. I wonder if she regrets sending you to your dad’s each summer. I sure would. Surely she was aware your father did drugs and girls. So perhaps you don’t owe her the flowers and apologies. Maybe she owes them to you.

Well, I guess all I have to say (haha, I’ve already said a lot) is this: I was not a fan of yours when I picked up the book, not even knowing you. My music years were not the 80’s, as by the mid-80’s I was having babies, listening to Barney and Mr. Rogers with them, ensconced in a cookie-cutter neighborhood and playing at Gymboree and in parks while you were scoring with dealers and women and living in your lonely mansions. I hear you have a little son now. I hope his life pans out completely different from yours.

And finally, I want you to know I’m a fan of your music now. You can sing. You can also be sober. I’m a little surprised that it took you decades to figure that out. But then, some of us are slow learners and for that I forgive you. Carry on, and please, stay “on the wagon.” You have a good family, a little boy and a ton of fans who want you to!

And thanks for the insights into the 3 lifestyles of yours (sex, drugs, rock n roll) I knew very little about. I feel so much better about MY life now!

Whew... had to put it down for a bit because I was having nightmares where Anthony Kiedis was chasing me because he thought I had his drugs.

3.5

May we all find our Californiacation

I was a teenager when Blood Sugar Sex Magik came out and the Chilli Peppers always seemed to me to be a constant in those years along with Pearl Jam and, to some extent Smashing Pumpkins. I had no idea how many ups and downs they had over the years, how many various incarnations there were with different members coming, going, coming back and sometimes dieing. Like who would have thought they would be looking for a manager just before releasing Californication. That's something unsuccessful bands do...and it turns out bands where every single member has a heroin or a coke problem.

For me there was way too much drug use in this book. It is literally every page and whilst it is an interesting journey to follow for someone who has only really smoked weed it is soul destroying to see Anthony go so down far the rabbit hole and drag himself out, only to fall back again and again and again and again and again. By the time I'd finished I felt like I had been on a bender myself so if you do want to read this one maybe considering stretching out a bit so that the novelty of him getting high doesn't completely wear off.

Re-read this to see if it holds up from when I read it at 16/17 and loved it.

This time round I find the drug addiction super confronting and crazy… he should without a doubt be dead and I was pretty disturbed. But either way he beat what sounds like as bad as addiction gets. Also think there was tmi on sex encounters.

Absolutely loved the parts about making / performing / touring music and the comings and goings of various band members (RHCP always been my fave). And his various loves.

Back then would have loved to trade lives. Now confidently wouldn’t be A.K. If I had the chance. Forever love them though.

When I saw this book on sale, I knew that I had to have it!
It did not disappoint either! Anthony Kiedis gets right down to the gritty details of his life, from his childhood which will floor you! I was rapt while getting this glimpse into who he is down to the core.
When I finished the book I had a couple of thoughts. First, did he really live that life?! Secondly, is he still sober today?
What an incredible life to have said you survived from and he is still under fifty. Yet, I get it too. Just most people don't get to walk away so unscathed from that life. Then it hits you like a truck! BAM! Scar Tissue. Couldn't put a more appropriate title on a book.
Whether you like this band, or even Anthony Kiedis, you should read his story. It will open your eyes to the celebrity world a lot more, while telling you about this guy's eye-opening journey through life.

Easy read, an open diary of his life long struggle with drugs and alcohol. The language and text is very loose and written as if he is telling you the story face to face. I enjoyed the book Anthony and Flea went to high school in my area, they are older than me but I knew about the Chili Peppers, they were a local band and I would see them around the neighborhood. Brought back some L.A memories. I had no idea about his drug use and the severity of it. He always appeared to be one of those guys who was into fitness and health. When Under the Bridge came out I was surprised about his drug use and thought he only had a short battle with drugs at the time when the record was released. I thought Hillel and John were the only hard core drug users. I was surprised to learn that the drummer Chad was the total opposite of the rest of the band (hair band /metal guy) and that he really didn't mingle with the other guys until really late in the game. He was there to do a job and he provided what they needed even though he didn't really mesh with the other members. The band always seemed so tight in the video.s It was a surprise to find that some members at one time or another were so distant. The photo's in the book are a great addition. The book is a journey of true friendship and brotherhood.

DNF @ 55 pages

I've decided to stop here before I hate all the Peppers' music forever as a result.

***Edited to add for full transparency: I've deleted my original review and the entire comments section as I was tired of fielding comments about a memoir I didn't finish seven plus years ago. People get passionate about their favorite band, and since this is a real person and not a fictional character, I've decided it's not worth the toxicity on all sides.

The only problem I found while reading this book was the fact that Kiedis is such a lucky pretentious fuck. The Red Hots are definitely not known for his voice, try the funky band, and by that I mean Flea. It's Flea. So basically Kiedis' memoirs are pretty much by the books for a 90's Rock Star--plenty of drugs, and plenty of women. These sections never cease to be at least somewhat entertaining. The main complaint with the book overall is Kiedis' constant, almost boastful, commentary. It's as if he tries to invoke jealousy in the reader simple because he lived it, you read it. But with a compelling enough story(with all that money and drugs it's got to be worth a few pages) I'd recommend.

I can't read another page of this. He cannot get thru a single paragraph without telling you how awesome he is at everything, stealing from somewhere or being a complete dickhead to people, doing some kind of drugs because it makes him all spiritually enlightened, fucking a bunch of random girls and cheating on his "soulmate" who he loves more than anything. I could rant for awhile about this book but I won't waste my time. I'll sum it up with "Anthony Kiedis is a massive douchebag, screw him and his terrible book."