Acid for the Children

New York Times BestsellerA #1 LA Times BestsellerA USA Today BestsellerOne of NPR's "Favorite Books of 2019" The iconic bassist and co-founder of the Red Hot Chili Peppers tells his fascinating origin story, complete with all the dizzying highs and the gutter lows you'd want from an LA street rat turned world famous rock star. In Acid for the Children, Flea takes readers on a deeply personal and revealing tour of his formative years, spanning from Australia to the New York City suburbs to, finally, Los Angeles. Through hilarious anecdotes, poetical meditations, and occasional flights of fantasy, Flea deftly chronicles the experiences that forged him as an artist, a musician, and a young man. His dreamy, jazz-inflected prose makes the Los Angeles of the 1970s and 80s come to gritty, glorious life, including the potential for fun, danger, mayhem, or inspiration that lurked around every corner. It is here that young Flea, looking to escape a turbulent home, found family in a community of musicians, artists, and junkies who also lived on the fringe. He spent most of his time partying and committing petty crimes. But it was in music where he found a higher meaning, a place to channel his frustration, loneliness, and love. This left him open to the life-changing moment when he and his best friends, soul brothers, and partners-in-mischief came up with the idea to start their own band, which became the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Acid for the Children is the debut of a stunning new literary voice, whose prose is as witty, entertaining, and wildly unpredictable as the author himself. It's a tenderly evocative coming-of-age story and a raucous love letter to the power of music and creativity from one of the most renowned musicians of our time.

New York Times BestsellerA #1 LA Times BestsellerA USA Today BestsellerOne of NPR's "Favorite Books of 2019" With "virtuosic vulnerability" (The Atlantic), the iconic bassist and Red Hot Chili peppers co-founder pens a love letter to a youth spent wild in Los Angeles in his raw and riveting coming-of-age memoir, now in paperback. In Acid for the Children, Flea takes readers on a deeply personal and revealing tour of his formative years, spanning from Australia to the New York City suburbs to, finally, Los Angeles. Through hilarious anecdotes, poetical meditations, and occasional flights of fantasy, Flea deftly chronicles the experiences that forged him as an artist, a musician, and a young man. His dreamy, jazz-inflected prose makes the Los Angeles of the 1970s and 80s come to gritty, glorious life, including the potential for fun, danger, mayhem, or inspiration that lurked around every corner. It is here that young Flea, looking to escape a turbulent home, found family in a community of musicians, artists, and junkies who also lived on the fringe. He spent most of his time partying and committing petty crimes. But it was in music where he found a higher meaning, a place to channel his frustration, loneliness, and love. This left him open to the life-changing moment when he and his best friends, soul brothers, and partners-in-mischief came up with the idea to start their own band, which became the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Acid for the Children is the debut of a stunning new literary voice, whose prose is as witty, entertaining, and wildly unpredictable as the author himself. It's a tenderly evocative coming-of-age story and a raucous love letter to the power of music and creativity from one of the most renowned musicians of our time.

New York Times BestsellerA #1 LA Times BestsellerA USA Today BestsellerOne of NPR's "Favorite Books of 2019" The iconic bassist and co-founder of the Red Hot Chili Peppers tells his fascinating origin story, complete with all the dizzying highs and the gutter lows you'd want from an LA street rat turned world famous rock star. In Acid for the Children, Flea takes readers on a deeply personal and revealing tour of his formative years, spanning from Australia to the New York City suburbs to, finally, Los Angeles. Through hilarious anecdotes, poetical meditations, and occasional flights of fantasy, Flea deftly chronicles the experiences that forged him as an artist, a musician, and a young man. His dreamy, jazz-inflected prose makes the Los Angeles of the 1970s and 80s come to gritty, glorious life, including the potential for fun, danger, mayhem, or inspiration that lurked around every corner. It is here that young Flea, looking to escape a turbulent home, found family in a community of musicians, artists, and junkies who also lived on the fringe. He spent most of his time partying and committing petty crimes. But it was in music where he found a higher meaning, a place to channel his frustration, loneliness, and love. This left him open to the life-changing moment when he and his best friends, soul brothers, and partners-in-mischief came up with the idea to start their own band, which became the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Acid for the Children is the debut of a stunning new literary voice, whose prose is as witty, entertaining, and wildly unpredictable as the author himself. It's a tenderly evocative coming-of-age story and a raucous love letter to the power of music and creativity from one of the most renowned musicians of our time.

The strange tale of a boy named Flea starts in Rye, NY. It was all very normal. But soon his parents divorced and his mother Patricia remarried a jazz musician. Flea's stepfather frequently invited musicians to his house for jam sessions which sparked Flea's interest in music. The family moved to Los Angeles, where Flea became fascinated with the trumpet, idolizing musicians like Miles, Dizzy, and Louis. But the family soon fell apart, "I was raised in a very violent, alcoholic household," Flea later said. "I grew up being terrified of my parents, particularly my father figures. It caused [me] a lot of trouble later in life." He began smoking weed at 13, and became a daily user of harder drugs. He was on the streets by 14 and soon after, met another social outcast and drug user named Anthony Kiedis. They form a band that would become the Red Hot Chili Peppers. ACID FOR THE CHILDREN is pure, uncut Flea, with nothing left unsaid.

In this "vivid and inspiring" NYT bestseller (Newsweek), the Red Hot Chili Peppers' lead singer and songwriter shares a searingly honest account of life in the rock scene's fast lane -- from the darkness into the light. In 1983, four self-described "knuckleheads" burst out of the mosh-pitted mosaic of the neo-punk rock scene in L.A. with their own unique brand of cosmic hardcore mayhem funk. Over twenty years later, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, against all odds, 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 dynamic lead singer, has been there for the whole roller-coaster ride. In Scar Tissue, Kiedis delivers a compelling life story from a man "in love with everything" -- the darkness, the death, the disease. Even his descent into drug addiction was a part of that journey, another element transformed into art. Whether he's honoring the influence of the beautiful, strong women who have been his muses or remembering the roaring crowds of Woodstock and the Dalai Lama's humble compound, Kiedis shares a compelling story about the price of success and excess. Scar Tissue is a story of dedication and debauchery, of intrigue and integrity, of recklessness and redemption -- a story that could only have come out of the world of rock.

“Total F*cking Godhead brings Chris Cornell, the voice of a generation, alive on the page. Impressively researched and compulsively readable, Godhead pulls no punches in recounting Cornell’s remarkable life and prolific career. It’s an inspired chronicle of an impassioned soul. Read it!” —Greg Renoff, author of Van Halen Rising With input from those who knew and worked with him—together with his own words—Total F*cking Godhead recounts the rise of Chris Cornell and his immortal band Soundgarden as they emerged from the 1980s post-punk underground to dominate popular culture in the ’90s alongside Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, and Nirvana. “From his days as a struggling Seattle musician at the forefront of the grunge scene to becoming a global icon, Total F*cking Godhead thoroughly chronicles the life story and prolific output of one of the greatest and most influential singers of all time. You will discover the man and his music all over again.” —David de Sola, author of Alice in Chains: The Untold Story Seattle resident and rock writer Corbin Reiff also examines Cornell’s dynamic solo career as well as his time in Audioslave. He delves into his hard-fought battle with addiction, and the supercharged reunion with the band that made him famous before everything came to a shocking end. “For those of us still trying to sort out the tragedy of Chris Cornell's death comes this loving look back at the man's life and music. I wrote my own book about grunge, and I still learned a lot from this excellent biography." —Mark Yarm, author of Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge

A dark romance evolves between a high schooler and her English teacher in this breathtakingly powerful memoir about a young woman who must learn to rewrite her own story. “Have you ever read Lolita?” So begins seventeen-year-old Alisson’s metamorphosis from student to lover and then victim. A lonely and vulnerable high school senior, Alisson finds solace only in her writing—and in a young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. North. Mr. North gives Alisson a copy of Lolita to read, telling her it is a beautiful story about love. The book soon becomes the backdrop to a connection that blooms from a simple crush into a forbidden romance. But as Mr. North’s hold on her tightens, Alisson is forced to evaluate how much of their narrative is actually a disturbing fiction. In the wake of what becomes a deeply abusive relationship, Alisson is faced again and again with the story of her past, from rereading Lolita in college to working with teenage girls to becoming a professor of creative writing. It is only with that distance and perspective that she understands the ultimate power language has had on her—and how to harness that power to tell her own true story. Being Lolita is a stunning coming-of-age memoir that shines a bright light on our shifting perceptions of consent, vulnerability, and power. This is the story of what happens when a young woman realizes her entire narrative must be rewritten—and then takes back the pen to rewrite it.

A tale set 100 years into the future, where a brutal police force punishes all dissenters and young people are wrongly blamed for all of society's ills, finds Jenna being broken out of prison by a mysterious rebel group that challenges her to practice her survival skills as she struggles to uncover the truth about the horrendous crime for which she was imprisoned.

(Guitar Chord Songbook). Guitar chords and lyrics to 50 of their best. Songs include: By the Way * Californication * Give It Away * Love Rollercoaster * Porcelain * Save the Population * Scar Tissue * Suck My Kiss * and more.

The first biography of the epic life of one of the most important, enigmatic and private artists of the 20th century. Drawn from almost 40 years of conversations with the artist, letters and papers, it is a major work written by a well-known British art critic. Lucian Freud (1922-2011) is one of the most influential figurative painters of the 20th century. His paintings are in every major museum and many private collections here and abroad. William Feaver's daily calls from 1973 until Freud died in 2011, as well as interviews with family and friends were crucial sources for this book. Freud had ferocious energy, worked day and night but his circle was broad including not just other well-known artists but writers, bluebloods, royals in England and Europe, drag queens, fashion models gamblers, bookies and gangsters like the Kray twins. Fierce, rebellious, charismatic, extremely guarded about his life, he was witty, mischievous and a womanizer. This brilliantly researched book begins with the Freuds' life in Berlin, the rise of Hitler and the family's escape to London in 1933 when Lucian was 10. Sigmund Freud was his grandfather and Ernst, his father was an architect. In London in his twenties, his first solo show was in 1944 at the Lefevre Gallery. Around this time, Stephen Spender introduced him to Virginia Woolf; at night he was taking Pauline Tennant to the Gargoyle Club, owned by her father and frequented by Dylan Thomas; he was also meeting Sonia Orwell, Cecil Beaton, Auden, Patrick Leigh-Fermor and the Aly Khan, and his muse was a married femme fatale, 13 years older, Lorna Wishart. But it was Francis Bacon who would become his most important influence and the painters Frank Auerbach and David Hockney, close friends. This is an extremely intimate, lively and rich portrait of the artist, full of gossip and stories recounted by Freud to Feaver about people, encounters, and work. Freud's art was his life—"my work is purely autobiographical"—and he usually painted only family, friends, lovers, children, though there were exceptions like the famous small portrait of the Queen. With his later portraits, the subjects were often nude, names were never given and sittings could take up to 16 months, each session lasting five hours but subjects were rarely bored as Freud was a great raconteur and mimic. This book is a major achievement, a tour de force that reveals the details of the life and innermost thoughts of the greatest portrait painter of our time. Volume I has 41 black and white integrated images, and 2 eight-page color inserts.

From their humble beginnings as friends in high school, to playing strip clubs in nothing but well-placed socks, through a struggle to find the right guitarist, to the present day, Red Hot Chili Peppers FAQ chronicles the adventures of the best-selling alternative rock band of all time. No other book goes through each era of the band's history. Unlike other band biographies, Red Hot Chili Peppers FAQ digs into the trivia that hardcore fans obsess over: every recorded (and unreleased) song and their origins, the story behind each band member's every tattoo, and every piece of gear each band member past and present has ever used. Ever wonder why current drummer Chad Smith switched drum companies? Or how Flea and Dave Navarro ended up recording with Alanis Morissette on "You Oughta Know"? Just when did Anthony Kiedis meet current guitarist Josh Klinghoffer for the first time? When did Kiedis first try harder drugs? How did Cher end up as a babysitter for young Kiedis? When did Buckethead try out for the band? Who currently owns the mansion where they recorded Blood Sugar Sex Magik? All the answers lay in the pages of Red Hot Chili Peppers FAQ.

One-of-a-kind tribute from one of the best-selling bands in the world direct to their legions of fans. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' performances have become legendary as much for the music and antics on stage as the generous, loving community of people who stand side by side, screaming their approval. This is a fan appreciation book from the band that puts the emphasis where it should be—on the fans. A vivid montage of words from the band members to their fans, it includes hundreds of photos taken at concerts worldwide, and interviews with fifty of the most devoted RHCP fans around the globe. The stories that emerge range from fantastic to tragic, but always inspirational and life-affirming. Lead singer Anthony Kiedis—New York Times best-selling author of his memoir, Scar Tissue—writes about the making of this book, and tells the story of the band's connection with their fans from day one in 1983 and how that relationship has evolved over three decades. Designed with a DIY/fanzine feel, this book is more than a fan tribute; it's a cultural exchange that captures the unique connection of an iconic band as devoted to their fans as the fans are to them.

NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories is the first tell-all autobiography from one of the worldÕs most influential and controversial punk bands. Alongside hilarious anecdotes about pranks and drunkenness and teenage failuresÑfeaturing the trademark NOFX sense of humorÑthe book also shares the ugliness and horror the band members experienced on the road to becoming DIY millionaires. Fans and non-fans alike will be shocked by stories of murder, suicide, addiction, counterfeiting, riots, bondage, terminal illness, the Yakuza, and peeÉlots and lots of pee. Told by each of the band members (and two former members), NOFX looks back at more than thirty years of comedy, tragedy, and completely inexplicable success. Ê

David Ritz presents his uniquely candid and and intimate account of the tumultuous life of the Prince of Soul music, Marvin Gaye. Author Ritz has assembled years of conversations and interviews from his life as a close friend and lyricist to the gifted Soul sensation, and tells the Marvin Gaye story with fly-on-the-wall accuracy and detail. From his early years as an abused child in the slums of Washington DC, through his rise to the very peaks of the Motown phenomenon, his fall from grace and subsequent comeback, to his untimely death at the hands of his father, Marvin's story is the stuff of legends. The cast of characters includes the Jacksons, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and countless other icons of the world of soul music.The definitive biography of an enormously gifted and sensitive musician.

#1 New York Times Bestseller “Funny and smart as hell” (Bill Gates), Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half showcases her unique voice, leaping wit, and her ability to capture complex emotions with deceptively simple illustrations. FROM THE PUBLISHER: Every time Allie Brosh posts something new on her hugely popular blog Hyperbole and a Half the internet rejoices. This full-color, beautifully illustrated edition features more than fifty percent new content, with ten never-before-seen essays and one wholly revised and expanded piece as well as classics from the website like, “The God of Cake,” “Dogs Don’t Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving,” and her astonishing, “Adventures in Depression,” and “Depression Part Two,” which have been hailed as some of the most insightful meditations on the disease ever written. Brosh’s debut marks the launch of a major new American humorist who will surely make even the biggest scrooge or snob laugh. We dare you not to. FROM THE AUTHOR: This is a book I wrote. Because I wrote it, I had to figure out what to put on the back cover to explain what it is. I tried to write a long, third-person summary that would imply how great the book is and also sound vaguely authoritative—like maybe someone who isn’t me wrote it—but I soon discovered that I’m not sneaky enough to pull it off convincingly. So I decided to just make a list of things that are in the book: Pictures Words Stories about things that happened to me Stories about things that happened to other people because of me Eight billion dollars* Stories about dogs The secret to eternal happiness* *These are lies. Perhaps I have underestimated my sneakiness!

A Parent’s Guide to Reflux in Infants, Children & Teens “Meeting Dr. Jamie Koufman completely changed my life. My symptoms of chronic cough and shortness of breath had been diagnosed since my childhood as asthma. Dr. Koufman identified that I had reflux, not asthma, and guided me step by step how to cure it. I have my life back and I owe it all to Dr. Koufman's insight and help.” -Suze Orman, Host of the Suze Orman Show, CNBC This is an important book that will help change how America eats and guide parents to heal our needlessly sick children and adolescents. There are 80 million infants, children and teens in America, and most have unhealthy diets. Every year, tens of millions are misdiagnosed as having asthma, allergies, nasal congestion, ear infections, chronic cough and croup, when the real problem is acid reflux. A bad diet and childhood obesity are both strongly associated with reflux. So, when a child has a respiratory disease and is not getting better with medical treatment, we believe parents should consider that reflux may be the problem. Why? Because it can be fixed! Reflux is the greatest masquerader of our time. It can be the cause of almost any kind of respiratory symptom or disease. Unlike adults who may have obvious reflux symptoms (indigestion and heartburn), children are almost always “silently refluxing,” and silent means that reflux is mysterious, difficult to diagnose and easy to overlook. Kids with reflux rarely complain of heartburn or indigestion. Respiratory reflux is the missing link between bad diet and many symptoms. Today, respiratory reflux is so common it is almost invisible. Pediatricians and medical specialists often diagnose children with asthma, sinusitis or allergy, when what they really have is reflux. Doctors all too frequently prescribe children antacid medications without beneficial effects. The real villain is not vanquished by pills. Most medications won’t do a thing for children’s reflux symptoms and can sometimes cause more harm than good. Reflux is not only uncomfortable and inconvenient, it’s dangerous. If left untreated, reflux can wreak havoc on a child’s ears, nose, throat, airways, lungs and digestive system. Our successful reflux rehabilitation program is a platform for change, with the long-term goal of health maintenance and disease prevention. And, for overweight children, another benefit of this book’s reflux program is that they will lose weight naturally and slowly with a diet that is simply “lean, clean, green and alkaline.” When we fix a child’s reflux, parents’ knowledge translates to significant dietary changes for the entire family. Out go the juice, soda, chocolate milk and other unhealthy choices. When parents understand that too much acid and sugar in the diet, and eating supper too late in the day has a big negative impact on the family’s health, they act. Their children’s well-being is at stake. Once reflux is identified or even suspected, the fix is more in parents’ control than many realize. Acid Reflux in Children is the revolutionary book for parents who want to help their children lead healthy, active lives, free of acid reflux and the many other symptoms this condition can create. Here’s to our future - HEALTHY CHILDREN!

Winner of the 2010 Non-Fiction National Book Award Patti Smith's evocative, honest and moving coming-of-age story of her extraordinary relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe

America's Queen of Soul recounts the story of her life, from her childhood as a minister's daughter in Detroit to her rise to success, offering insights into the faith and determination that have taken her to the top.

“A profound exploration of what it means for all of us to live—and to die—with dignity and purpose.” —People “Visceral and lyrical.” —The Atlantic As the American born daughter of immigrants, Dr. Sunita Puri knew from a young age that the gulf between her parents' experiences and her own was impossible to bridge, save for two elements: medicine and spirituality. Between days spent waiting for her mother, an anesthesiologist, to exit the OR, and evenings spent in conversation with her parents about their faith, Puri witnessed the tension between medicine's impulse to preserve life at all costs and a spiritual embrace of life's temporality. And it was that tension that eventually drew Puri, a passionate but unsatisfied medical student, to palliative medicine--a new specialty attempting to translate the border between medical intervention and quality-of-life care. Interweaving evocative stories of Puri's family and the patients she cares for, That Good Night is a stunning meditation on impermanence and the role of medicine in helping us to live and die well, arming readers with information that will transform how we communicate with our doctors about what matters most to us.

This is the story of LSD told by a concerned yet hopeful father, organic chemist Albert Hofmann. He traces LSDs path from a promising psychiatric research medicine to a recreational drug sparking hysteria and prohibition.We follow Dr. Hofmanns trek across Mexico to discover sacred plants related to LSD, and listen in as he corresponds with other notable figures about his remarkable discovery.Underlying it all is Dr. Hofmanns powerful conclusion that mystical experience may be our planets best hope for survival. Whether induced by LSD, meditation, or arising spontaneously, such experiences help us to comprehend the wonder, the mystery of the divine in the microcosm of the atom, in the macrocosm of the spiral nebula, in the seeds of plants, in the body and soul of people.Now, more than sixty years after the birth of Albert Hofmanns problem child, his vision of its true potential is more relevant, and more needed, than ever.

The “dazzling” and essential portrayal of 1960s America from the author of South and West and The Year of Magical Thinking (The New York Times). Capturing the tumultuous landscape of the United States, and in particular California, during a pivotal era of social change, the first work of nonfiction from one of American literature’s most distinctive prose stylists is a modern classic. In twenty razor-sharp essays that redefined the art of journalism, National Book Award–winning author Joan Didion reports on a society gripped by a deep generational divide, from the “misplaced children” dropping acid in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district to Hollywood legend John Wayne filming his first picture after a bout with cancer. She paints indelible portraits of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes and folk singer Joan Baez, “a personality before she was entirely a person,” and takes readers on eye-opening journeys to Death Valley, Hawaii, and Las Vegas, “the most extreme and allegorical of American settlements.” First published in 1968, Slouching Towards Bethlehem has been heralded by the New York Times Book Review as “a rare display of some of the best prose written today in this country” and named to Time magazine’s list of the one hundred best and most influential nonfiction books. It is the definitive account of a terrifying and transformative decade in American history whose discordant reverberations continue to sound a half-century later.