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Acid for the Children: Flea Memoir
Acid for the children was released in 2019.
This is the title of Michael Peter Balzary’s (Flea) memoir, which for those who doesn’t know, is the legendary bass player of one of the biggest bands in the Rock history, Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The book was on my list of books to read in 2020, but I couldn’t wait. I skipped the line, and what a journey!
I start leaving a tip for a different experience, which in this case makes all the difference: AudioBook.
The AudioBook format (narration) of the written book is a great option and I’ve listened some this year.
But an AudioBook narrated by the author, and in this case, the artist, provides us with a totally different and awesome experience.
After finishing the book, in a few weeks, I started to miss listening Flea. That miss we feel from a close friend, you know?
When listening to the stories told by Flea, we make a great immersion in his life and the artist becomes a close friend.
Acid for the children is not a book about Flea’s history with the Chili Peppers.
Flea focuses his book just the opposite: telling his life before fame and popularity.
The book consists of mini stories, some very short and some longer.
These stories are organized chronologically and sometimes we have a fast-forward.
Flea tells us about his life in Australia and his troubled relationship with his father, his move to the USA and the beginning of what would become the beginning of his career.
Flea is keen to point out the love and friendship between him and Anthony Kiedis, Red Hot frontman.
It is one of those rare friendships. As much as I already knew about the bond between the two, it’s really cool to know exactly how and when it happened. Know about the fights, stories and more.
In addition to Kiedis, Flea also highlights another great friend, Hillel Slovak, the person who basically introduced him to the Rock world, teaching and encouraging him to play bass.
Acid for the children is not just a book for anyone who is a fan of Chili Peppers or Flea.
For those who, like me, are lovers of rock and music in general, knowing such personal details of an iconic artist like Flea, is very rewarding.
The journey of listening to him every night, laughing at his hilarious stories and crying with sad moments was one of the cool things I had this year.