Acid for the Children: A Memoir

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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. I assumed that Flea — formally known as Michael — would provide similar stories in his memoir. How couldn’t I, when the memoir’s cover is a photo of teenage Flea smoking a joint on the beach? Svi koji me poznaju znaju koliko volim Red Hot Chili Peppers, njihovu muziku, istoriju i cjelokupnu auru koja okružuje ovaj bend koji je na sceni skoro četiri decenije. And I find it stunning how much I could identify with the guy. We seem to have pretty much similar psychological setup, and I've even done some of the same shit in my youth. Not that it resulted in any kind of stardom or sublime mastery, like in his case.

An] electric, surprisingly moving memoir...Flea is an enlightened narrator, and this passionate, smart memoir will resonate with readers whether they're fans of the band or not."In April 2014, Flea started writing his memoir. The book was expected to chronicle Flea's unconventional childhood (including his move from a "normal" life in the New York suburbs to a " bohemian" lifestyle in Los Angeles with his jazz-playing stepfather), his adventures in the L.A. streets, his "sometimes complex friendship and collaboration" with Chili Peppers co-founder Anthony Kiedis and the overall "tumultuous creative journey" of the band, which formed in 1983. [5] I whipped right through this. Michael Balzary (Flea) is a former client in my audio business, so I knew he had a love of esoteric jazz, and that he is a deep, thoughtful man. With "virtuosic vulnerability" ( The Atlantic), the iconic bassist and Red Hot Chili peppers co-founder pens a love letter to a youth spent wild in Los Angeles in his raw and riveting coming-of-age memoir. Acid for the Children is not an as-told-to, nor is it written "with" someone. These are Flea's words-excitable, jazzy, regretful, disarming, popping and writhing away in his biological bass zone. Insecurities to the fore: He worries that he may be producing "a thorny jumble of trash." But he's actually a lovely writer, with a particular gift for the free-floating and reverberant. He writes in Beat Generation bursts and epiphanies, lifting toward the kind of virtuosic vulnerability and self-exposure associated with the great jazz players....Flea-elegant nutcase, funk-at-high-pressure bassist, wildly cultured and culturedly wild man-has written a fine memoir. You'll put down Acid for the Children with your human sympathies expanded; you'll feel less alone."-- The Atlantic Long after I’m dead, someone will erect a statue of Flea in West Hollywood. He’ll be slapping that bass in mid-flight, wild-eyed, legs spread, his pants half-way down his ass, and with such a look of joy on his face that it will become a place of pilgrimage for young and old alike.

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: I mean, we played a show last night. I'm seeing him in an hour for a screening of a documentary we made, you know? And I've never read it because I'm scared to read it. This book is yikes city. Flea waxes poetically about all kinds of vibing with the sound, connecting with the Earth etc since he was a kid, but in a very ‘first grader who is enlightened’ vocabulary. Isnt this man sixtyish by now? Some of the book I’ve found to be endearing, but most of it is unfortunately pure gibberish - and I say this as someone who loves him and the RHCP. There is a lyrical lilt to Flea’s prose, his voice clear and authentic. I was moved by his enthusiasm for life, the way that he has always been unapologetically himself. And perhaps most surprisingly, this memoir challenged my assumptions, making me think in unexpected ways and reminding me of the beauty inherent in life and those who walk through it with us. Ljubavi bez koje ništa ne bi bilo moguće, ljubavi koja se nalazi u svemu - u dobrim stvarima, u lošim iskustvima, književnosti, džezu, u samodestrukciji, gubitku, samoći. Interesting, we both had major life-changing experiences in the late '60s. He refers to his suburban days as "normal life," as I did in my book "Craving Normal."

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. A onda, jednog dana, 1976. godine, u hodniku srednje škole upoznaje svog budućeg najboljeg prijatelja, svoju suštu suprotnost, svog spasioca, člana porodice kojeg mu je svemir dodijelio - Anthony Kiedisa.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.