Scars

I finished Anthony Kiedis's Scar Tissue last night. It was a really fascinating book in so many ways. But of course, I think the most interesting theme throughout is the constant, and I mean constant, drugging. He's clean at the end and that's heartening, but this is a guy who had soooo many relapses. It's pretty incredible really. Incredible, too, that he's still alive.

I found it interesting that he didn't quite get around to making the connection between substance abuse and relationships, though. He admitted that generally speaking, the big benders would come around after a relationship would break up. But his obsession with women (there was ALWAYS at least one woman around, it seemed) was another prevalent theme. With the last girlfriend who's mentioned, he also mentioned how he "relapsed" with her several times --- getting back together and then breaking up again -- so he was almost there. But never did he exactly liken the behavior with women to the same compulsion as the drugging.

I just find it interesting. On the one hand, he is a rock star so of course there is going to be a fair amount of womanizing (and relationships) on that alone. But I think that as a person who has quit drinking and drugs, I have found that guys can be yet another addiction just like substances. Sex can be quite a drug. His descriptions of a "dry drunk" -- somebody who no longer drinks but still has the same broken soul to exhibit the same behavior -- was fascinating to me as well.

Anyway, again, I have to give him credit for laying it all on the line. It's a thoroughly enjoyable book, on many levels, and while I did kind of criticize him above, that's not to say that he isn't very self aware, and willing to own up to his past in an incredibly frank way. I'd highly recommend it...

LLB