Scar Tissue (A. Kiedis)

Anthony Kiedis (with Larry Sloman) Scar Tissue. (2004)
Hyperion Books

Summary
In 1983, four self-described “knuckleheads” burst out of the neo-punk rock scene in L.A. Over twenty years later, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have become one of the most successful bands in the world. Though the band has gone through many incarnations, Anthony Kiedis, the group’s lyricist and lead singer, has been there for the whole roller-coaster ride. Kiedis shares a compelling story about the price of success and excess. Scar Tissue is a story of dedication and debauchery, of recklessness and redemption that could only have come out of the world of rock.

My comments
The book is written quite well, but going by the sample song lyrics in the book, I think that that's due more to Larry Sloman than to Anthony Keidis! I started to read the book having never knowingly heard anything by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and knowing about their lead singer. Having read the book, I'm not much the wiser about either! The music: There are some obscure descriptions of some of the music, but having heard samples on the Web, I wouldn't necessarily recognise them. The author: Keidis describes his life without giving substantive explanations of it. It's one thing to say, 'I did it spontaneously', but a memoir or autobiography should give us more than just a list of events - - it should give us some insight into the author.

This is especially important in this book, because Keidis spends a lot of time and words parading his self-loathing and despair at his drug taking, yet gives no insight that would explain behaviour he thinks is important enough to tell the world about.

Finally, this is a very unoriginal book. For decades, musicians have been confessing their addictions and they and others have written about their altered perceptions as if no-one's every thought about it before. E.g.
• Thomas de Quincy (1821) Confessions Of An Opium Eater. (Published originally in The London Magazine, anonymously. The original text is in Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium Eater, edited by Alethea Hayter, New York, Penguin Books, 1971.)
• Aldous Huxley (1954) The Doors of Perception. Chatto & Windus.
• Hunter S. Thompson (1972) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Random House. (Published originally in two parts in Rolling Stone magazine. Made into a film in 1998, starring Thompson's friend Johnny Depp.)

See also:
Hayter, A. (1988) Opium and the Romantic Imagination: Addiction and Creativity in De Quincey, Coleridge, Baudelaire and Others. (Revised edn.) Wellingborough: Crucible.



1. Anthony Kiedis has a Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Kiedis
He also has a site on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anthony-Kiedis-Red-Hot-Chili-Peppers/8208419329

2. Scar Tissue has its own Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scar_Tissue_(book)

3. Anthony Kiedis was interviewed (briefly) by Dominick A, Maserandino for The Celebrity café.com, following the publication of Scar Tissue:
http://thecelebritycafe.com/interviews/anthony_kiedis_2005_01.html

4. Videos of several of the songs in Scar Tissue have been collected on this site:
http://vodpod.com/tag/anthony+kiedis

5. Albums by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stadium Arcadium (2006)
By The Way (2002)
Californication (1999)
One Hot Minute (1995)
Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
Mother's Milk (1989)
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987)
Freaky Styley (1985)
The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1984)

6. Anthony Kiedis's publisher
Hyperion. Founded in 1991, it is a general-interest publishing division of The Walt Disney Company. Hyperion publishes books under these imprints: Hyperion, Hyperion East, Hyperion Audio Books, Voice, ESPN Books, Miramax Books, ABC Daytime Press. Its books are distributed by Harper-Collins Publishers, part of News Corporation.

7. Larry Sloman.
Larry 'Ratso' Sloman is a New York-based author best known for his collaboration with Howard Stern on the radio personality's two best-selling books, Private Parts and Miss America. Sloman wrote what is generally considered as the best book on Bob Dylan, On the Road with Bob Dylan, an account of the legendary 1975 Rolling Thunder Review. His latest book is The Secret Life of Houdini, written with magic historian William Kalush. Sloman's other collaborations include Mysterious Stranger, with the magician David Blaine and Scar Tissue, with Anthony Kiedis.