Scar Tissue is an enthralling autobiography written by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ frontman, Anthony Kiedis. As a longtime Chilli Pepper fan I jumped at the chance to read this indepth look into the life of one of the most interesting characters in the music industry. Raised in unusual circumstances by a straight-laced, caring mother and a drug-dealing father, Kiedis does not speak with any bitterness towards his father. Speaking in great detail about many bizarre childhood memories, such a smoking dope with his father at the age of 12, I found Kiedis truly loving and accepting of his father’s faults. To him this man was his hero, and unfortunately he followed closely in his footsteps. Kiedis has a fierce appetite for drugs and it proves to be a constant struggle for him during his life. It’s the same story for many rock stars, but what I found surprising was Kiedis’ resistance to living ‘the high life’. As a man who was living the rock dream, and making the money that came along with it, he refused to buy his own home, instead shacking up on people’s couches along the way. I had never realized that while he was on top of the music world, he was still running away from his fame and choosing to get high with homeless people instead of the wealthy which now surrounded him. One of his most famous songs, “Under the Bridge”, refers to time spent with the homeless under overpasses and bridges all over California. Another interesting piece of this book was Kiedis’ ties to women and the detail in which he remembers the multiple women he was close to in his life. Attracted to the strange and beautiful, he was completely in love with the idea of women and the closeness he felt with them. This probably stems from his deep connection to his mother, whom he adored. Searching his whole life for a way to become more real, Kiedis realizes finally that he has given up everything for drugs – especially his health. Scar Tissue takes the reader on an incredible journey through the rollercoaster ride that was Kiedis’ life. Although it touches on the band and the friendships he had with his fellow bandmates, I was happily surprised to learn so much more about the man himself and the lessons he learned living a genuinely wild life.
