April 2006
Red Hot Reads?
This month, mini-fiction and high drama
THE TENT **
By Margaret Atwood
Nan A. Talese, 2006
Being the successful author of 19 works of fiction, 6 children’s books, 13 collections of poetry and 5 non-fiction books, amongst other works, Atwood could publish her shopping list and it would still make the bestseller list. Unfortunately, this is a bit what reading
The Tent is like. OK, so it’s not really a shopping list, but it is a collection of prose ranging in length from a single paragraph to several pages. She writes about such subjects as relationships, youth and philosophy. The writing itself is not bad; in fact it is classic Atwood—quirky, witty and personal. But at times it reads like the leftovers that never made it into a novel. Some of the prose is too good to go unread, but some is slightly rambling and unfocused.
Our Cat Enters Heaven is one of the better pieces—a funny take on what heaven is like for a cat. The first thing the cat asks God is: “Do you think I could have my testicles back?”
The Tent is beautifully presented, complete with black-and-white line drawings by Atwood. If you enjoyed
Good Bones and
Murder in the Dark, you will love this book.
SCAR TISSUE ***
By Anthony Kiedis and Larry Sloman
Time Warner Books, 2005
After reading this true story by the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ frontman, Anthony Kiedis, two things stand out: first, after the way Kiedis abused his body, he is lucky to be alive and, second, it is a wonder that he remembers so much of his eventful past. Ultimately, however, what emerges is a painfully honest account of his life.
The story takes us through his childhood, if you can call it that. At the tender age of 12, when he went to live with his father in California, Kiedis’ innocence was lost on so many levels. His father was a fast-living, drug-dealing party animal who always had a teenage girlfriend in tow. He used his son to help him with his drug deals, and famously allowed his girlfriend to take his 12-year-old son’s virginity. The book contains a great selection of photographs, but the most poignant are a series of four black-and-white snapshots taken by Kiedis’ father. They show him, baby-faced at 12, smoking his first joint. The caption says, “I had only been in LA a day or two, and was on my way to doing almost everything imaginable in that kitchen.” Despite his turbulent childhood, Kiedis’ account is very matter-of-fact and shows an amazing lack of bitterness towards his father. He has a very rare ability to see the good points in everyone and to focus on them, rather than on the bad.
Most drug addicts write about their previous abuse with regret and remorse, but not Kiedis. He paints a very honest picture of what it is like to be so dangerously addicted and, despite being clean for some years at the time of writing the book, admits that the demons are still present. He places no blame, which would be so easy to do in his situation. He sees his struggles and addiction as part of the great learning curve that is life. Unlike some other rock and roll biographies, Kiedis and Sloman emphasize that there is nothing glamorous about the dirty life of an addict. Kiedis describes his time in rehab, his lapses back into the underworld and the ugly side of the drug scene.
The book gives a good insight into the band’s lyrics as well as their touring and recording activities. It also talks about their working relationship with each other and their numerous different line-ups on the way to being one of the most popular bands in the world. Indeed, Scar Tissue is a great read for everyone, not just Red Hot Chili Peppers fans.
