Anthony Kiedis’ “Scar tissue” is an autobiography containing more sex, drugs, and rock and roll than you could possibly imagine one person could endure. If you don’t already know, Anthony Kiedis is the funk-driven lead singer of the world-renowned band: The Red Hot Chili Peppers. His story is a memoir in which Kiedis retraces the intriguing adventures he’s experienced in his life. These adventures pertain for the most part to Kiedis’ struggle with drug addiction and his never ending oscillations from good health to serious abuse. At times it would seem as though Kiedis was dealing with his addiction comfortably when before he knew it, he’d find himself at the local motel again, lighting up. These constant slip-ups would lead to the deterioration of many relationships he’d have with friends, women, and band-mates.
While I personally enjoyed the read, being the Red Hot Chili Peppers fan I am, many would find this book to be quite monotonous. Kiedis is constantly going through the same vicious cycle of a dysfunctional relationship followed by severe drug abuse. Although every story has its own flare, it starts to get repetitive and tedious after a while. The book also lacks narrative structure. Although Kiedis does draw you in to his lifestyle, he fails to provide a meaningful point of view, other than perhaps “Don’t do drugs as they are bad for you”.
The book is a long sequence of Kiedis jumping from one story to another in a somewhat simplistic and repetitive fashion: “This is what happened, then this happened, then this happened”. That being said, some of the stories Kiedis recites are anything but boring. One example is his story of an accident he had as a teenager. He was stoned when he jumped off a 5 storey building into a pool, but overshot the pool and broke his back. The way he describes it, he survived through a strong sense of self-preservation, pulling himself out of the pool while in “paralytic shock”. In a lot of his other stories, he falls back into the repetitive themes of euphoria while high on heroin, incredible sex on the road, or the many gags pulled with his childhood friends. After a while, you get the sense that Kiedis is quite self-absorbed and impressed with himself. However, he does occasionally provide insight into the world of drug abuse and music.
Kiedis also fails to draw you in emotionally. His story about the death of one of his “best friends”, Hillel, one of the original band members, seems more focused on Kiedis’ battle with drugs than with the emotional impact of his friend’s death. He only devotes about a page to this story before he moves on to his next story of a drug induced stupor.
Although I did find the book repetitive at times, overall I would recommend the book to any Red Hot Chili Peppers fan. For anyone else, I can safely say that you won't be missing out if you skip this one.
A great review of the biography. I as a peppers fan am compelled to read the book, but will admit that I am slightly put off by the above mentioned repetition. Alternatively I would love hearing more about the wicked lifestyle that Kiedis "endured" and will make sure i find a copy ASAP.
Anthony Kiedis’ “Scar tissue” is an autobiography containing more sex, drugs, and rock and roll than you could possibly imagine one person could endure. If you don’t already know, Anthony Kiedis is the funk-driven lead singer of the world-renowned band: The Red Hot Chili Peppers. His story is a memoir in which Kiedis retraces the intriguing adventures he’s experienced in his life. These adventures pertain for the most part to Kiedis’ struggle with drug addiction and his never ending oscillations from good health to serious abuse. At times it would seem as though Kiedis was dealing with his addiction comfortably when before he knew it, he’d find himself at the local motel again, lighting up. These constant slip-ups would lead to the deterioration of many relationships he’d have with friends, women, and band-mates.
ReplyDeleteWhile I personally enjoyed the read, being the Red Hot Chili Peppers fan I am, many would find this book to be quite monotonous. Kiedis is constantly going through the same vicious cycle of a dysfunctional relationship followed by severe drug abuse. Although every story has its own flare, it starts to get repetitive and tedious after a while. The book also lacks narrative structure. Although Kiedis does draw you in to his lifestyle, he fails to provide a meaningful point of view, other than perhaps “Don’t do drugs as they are bad for you”.
The book is a long sequence of Kiedis jumping from one story to another in a somewhat simplistic and repetitive fashion: “This is what happened, then this happened, then this happened”. That being said, some of the stories Kiedis recites are anything but boring. One example is his story of an accident he had as a teenager. He was stoned when he jumped off a 5 storey building into a pool, but overshot the pool and broke his back. The way he describes it, he survived through a strong sense of self-preservation, pulling himself out of the pool while in “paralytic shock”. In a lot of his other stories, he falls back into the repetitive themes of euphoria while high on heroin, incredible sex on the road, or the many gags pulled with his childhood friends. After a while, you get the sense that Kiedis is quite self-absorbed and impressed with himself. However, he does occasionally provide insight into the world of drug abuse and music.
Kiedis also fails to draw you in emotionally. His story about the death of one of his “best friends”, Hillel, one of the original band members, seems more focused on Kiedis’ battle with drugs than with the emotional impact of his friend’s death. He only devotes about a page to this story before he moves on to his next story of a drug induced stupor.
Although I did find the book repetitive at times, overall I would recommend the book to any Red Hot Chili Peppers fan. For anyone else, I can safely say that you won't be missing out if you skip this one.
A great review of the biography. I as a peppers fan am compelled to read the book, but will admit that I am slightly put off by the above mentioned repetition. Alternatively I would love hearing more about the wicked lifestyle that Kiedis "endured" and will make sure i find a copy ASAP.
ReplyDelete