Acid for the Children: A Memoir by the Bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers

“Almost everyone who reads this book knows me as Flea. But getting that name is still a long, long way off. For now I’m Michael Peter Balzary—a little blond boy from Australia.”

In 1983, a group that was still unknown to anyone played their first concert for 30 people. A few years later, the whole world knew them as Red Hot Chili Peppers. Seven “Grammys,” 80 million sold album copies—an earth-shaking success.

We all know the story and we’ve certainly heard the famous Californication. In this book, one of today’s best bassists tells what came before and what was left offstage: moving to the United States, his parents’ divorce, and complicated family relationships; first love, first songs, first drugs. Crazy acts, jazz, funk, jumping into the pool from the roof of high-rises, thefts, meeting Anthony Kiedis—his school friendship with whom would grow into the creation of RHCP. This is the journey from the dirty streets of Los Angeles to the peaks of music charts and an army of fans around the world.

On the one hand, Flea shows us a typical rock star story—but he does it so sharply, easily, and poetically, without embellishing reality, making the book a wonderful piece of writing by a deep philosopher. It is an honest story of a person who managed to turn all the disappointment, love, and loneliness into his work—into music that inspires whole generations.