Book Review: Acid For the Children

In Acid for the Children, Flea takes readers on a deeply personal and revealing tour of his formative years, spanning from Australia to the New York City suburbs to, finally, Los Angeles. Through hilarious anecdotes, poetical meditations, and occasional flights of fantasy, Flea deftly chronicles the experiences that forged him as an artist, a musician, and a young man. His dreamy, jazz-inflected prose makes the Los Angeles of the 1970s and 80s come to gritty, glorious life, including the potential for fun, danger, mayhem, or inspiration that lurked around every corner. It is here that young Flea, looking to escape a turbulent home, found family in a community of musicians, artists, and junkies who also lived on the fringe. He spent most of his time partying and committing petty crimes. But it was in music where he found a higher meaning, a place to channel his frustration, loneliness, and love. This left him open to the life-changing moment when he and his best friends, soul brothers, and partners-in-mischief came up with the idea to start their own band, which became the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

This autobiography was released in November of 2019 by Grand Central Publishing. Our Volumaniacs' Book Club group on Facebook chose it for our October book discussion.

My first impressions, right from the very first pages, was that Flea's writing is very descriptive and articulate. I always find it more engaging when musicians are able to pull me into their stories - so that I can experiencing them as they remember them. I also really like the format of the book. Many of the chapters are short, easily consumed nuggets which help keep the ideas and events tightly focused. Each chapter has its own title too, often with Flea using some humor or wordplay in them.

I liked that even at such an early age that he had a love of reading. I can totally relate to that as I was an early book lover myself. Reading also had an effect on his writing and communication skills (which are evident through this book).

At the end of the book, Flea includes a number of lists. These reveal insights into books, movies, albums and such that have made a lasting impression on him. These kinds of things really help me to get to know more about him.

Note to readers: this book only covers Flea's life up through his first couple of bands. It does chronicle the starts of his friendships with guys who become his bandmates and who would eventually form the Red Hot Chili Peppers with him. It does not, however, cover any of the RHCP history as a band (album recordings or tours). I suspect he'll continue that in a second book, if he ever writes one.