My 14 year old son has to do a book report for school. It can be on any book of his choice and he has chosen "Scar Tissue" by Anthony Kiedis with Larry Sloman. It is Kiedis' life story with apparently nothing held back. I was between books when it came home so I swooped on it Wednesday evening to flick through, maybe read on the toilet. It's now Friday morning and I am on page 350 of this 450 page book. I simply cannot put it down.
Kiedis frankly details his early life and friendships and is harrowingly frank about his drug use and abuse. It is one of the most honest portrayals of a drug addict that I have read, openly detailing the euphoria of the hunt and score (or 'cop') as well as the blackness and despair of being lost in the need. Amongst it all is his love of his music and drive to be different. It is a fascinating read.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Fred reading it though. The message I get from the book about drugs is not "don't do drugs, they're evil" but more like "drugs are great fun, but they fucked me up". That message translates well as a warning to someone with a little life experience, but to an invincible 14 year old boy who processes everything through his "it couldn't happen to me" filter, I'm not so sure. I guess I can only give him the benefit of my experience and trust in him. Raising a teenaged boy is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Raising is the wrong word, I guess, I think guiding is probably a better word.
But that's another thought and another post
1 comment:
Read it. Very excellent.
Also Tommy Lee's "Tommy Land" and Dave Navarro's "Don't Try This At Home"
Outstanding.
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