Acid for the Children by Flea

Flea, iconic bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, shares the story of his life's beginnings in Acid for the Children, from his unstable upbringing in Australia and New York to his formative years in the gritty Los Angeles of the 70s and 80s. With humor, heartfelt reflection, and wild-man storytelling, Flea tracks his journey from his troubled youth to finding solace and purpose in music.

Admittedly, I'm struggling with the rating and review of this one. It's a strange kettle of fish with a constant wax and wane between utter mania and sedate introspection. Partying and drug abuse tales up against out-of-place stories like on about a man working in a cemetery who tried to humorously scare Flea and his girlfriend.

Perhaps because Flea was approached by a publisher about a proposed memoir, he went at it a little differently than most memoirists. He seems riddled by juxtaposing emotions of joy for life and music against a deeply but barely constrained pool of guilt. He went into great detail about his life before he found fame with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but the memories relayed were rather disjointed, often from the timeline itself, but also because they seemed more cathartic than truly purposeful in relaying his life. Many of the others were of the "that's crazy, man" variety, but on the whole, Acid for the Children lives in the strange shadows of the confessional, leaving the distinct impression of holding back and perhaps some room for more reflection.

Audiobook, as narrated by the author: Flea did a great job — he spoke quickly but clearly and I loved the emotion he allowed into his voice. Part of the allowance of these words strained by held-back tears by audiobook producers is what keeps people coming back again and again to memoirs with audiobooks narrated by the authors. The enthusiasm and gravity that he added to his written word would have been impossible to match were it narrated by anyone else.