Scar Tissue – Book Review

Sam Demas

Jan. 12^th 2014

            Scar Tissue, a self written auto-biography of Anthony Kiedis, follows the somewhat hectic and drug binged journey of a boy, evolving into a self made star and lead man of “The Red Hot Chili Peppers.” Written with so much detail, it could pass for a biography of the whole band, describing 3 out of the 4 members from a very young age. The Chili Peppers road to fame and trudge to the top keep you constantly glued to your book (or in my case my kindle.) Whether it’s finding out the significance of some of your favorite lyrics to feeling heart wrenched from the characters excessive drug use and addiction development; this is a great read with excitement and good life lessons.

            I really enjoyed the beginning of the book from Anthony’s toddler years to his late teen life, because at this point he wasn’t lured on hard drugs. Besides some occasional pot and drinking, it was just his creative mind and his punk shenanigans. Not only was he a punk, like I mentioned, he was a smart Punk who landed many jobs acting as a teenager in Coca-Cola commercials and many others. He was the tough type, never taking shit from anyone and ALWAYS standing up for his friends. ”Adolescence is such a fun time in your life, because you think you know it all, and you haven’t gotten to the point where you realize that you know almost nothing. “ Reading of Anthony’s escapades, such as sneaking into clubs in L.A., from his first sexual thoughts and encounters keeps you glued to the page feeling like quite the high school bad ass yourself. His descriptions of beautiful women and urging feelings of love are another great part of the book. “When I looked into her eyes, I saw an invisible spirit of something I had already loved.” However once he becomes sucked into his endless circle of hard drugs, you begin to see his love life, career, friends, and physical health take a turn for the worse.

            Drugs play a huge role in Scar Tissue. I think it could have very well been the backing purpose to the whole book. Being involved with “drugs” ever since he was 12, Anthony was simply smoking pot for quite some time, however once he got into cocaine, and “China White” heroine, the book takes you on a never ending downward spiral, from drug binges and withdrawals, from crashing in and out of rehab. ”When you’re using drugs, you’re driven by this mystical black energy, a force inside you that just won’t quit. And the weaker you get, the more you feed into that energy, and the more it fucks with you. When your spirit becomes dark and your lifestyle becomes dark, your existence is susceptible to infiltration by dark spirits. I’ve seen it so many times with addicts. You can see that they’re controlled by dark energy, the way they look, their appearance, their voice, their behavior, it’s not them.” Anthony and virtually the whole band experiment with every drug they can get their hands on, but it’s the coke and heroine that really start to deteriorate their way of life, especially Anthony’s. This autobiography shows the power of addiction, and the altercation drugs can put on your life and career. The book is brutally honest showing his addiction problem all the way up till 11 years ago, where he has became sober and stayed sober until the present day.

            Scar Tissue is one of the most interesting and intriguing books I have ever read. Through the life of a punk/funk rocker you learn a lot of things that you wouldn't understand without reading it yourself. However along the whole way you are entertained by Anthony Kiedis’ adventure and love filled life.