Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Palo Alto

2.82 of 5 stars 2.82 · rating details · 1,995 ratings · 420 reviews

A fiercely vivid collection of storiesabout troubledCalifornia teenagers and misfits--violent and harrowing, fromthe astonishingly talented actor and artist James Franco.

Palo Alto is the debut of a surprising and powerful new literary voice. Written with an immediate sense of place--claustrophobic and ominous--James Franco's collection traces the lives of an extended group

...more

Hardcover, 208 pages

Published October 19th 2010 by Scribner (first published October 7th 2010)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler

Celebrity Authors

27th out of 73 books — 30 voters

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

My Wants!!

56th out of 115 books — 35 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Nov 17, 2011 K.D. Oliveros rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Angus

Shelves: short-stories, ya, sex, violence, crime

James Franco! Yes, the good-looking Hollywood actor. Said to be one of the sexiest men alive. He is the author of this book!

On the screen, you must have seen him as:
- Harry Osborn the friend turns nemesis as Green Goblin of SPIDER-MAN
- Tristan the lover of Isolde in the classic remake of TRISTAN AND ISOLDE
- Saul Silver who supports his grandma in the retirement home by dealing drugs in the PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
- Scott Smith the lover of Mayor Castro, played by Sean Penn in MILK
- Aron Ralston the you...more

19 likes · like · see review

May 25, 2013 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rating: 3.875* of five

The Book Report: Sixteen short stories about adolescent life in upper middle class America. The author hailing from there, he's written about Palo Alto, California. It could as easily be Cedar Park, Texas, or Rockville Centre, New York. The stories are very much in the vein of adolescence itself, working the same nerve in me as adolescents do: Getting drunk, getting high, hooking up, wondering if you're the only one, being ostracized, being Too Cool for School, realizing yo...more Rating: 3.875* of five

The Book Report: Sixteen short stories about adolescent life in upper middle class America. The author hailing from there, he's written about Palo Alto, California. It could as easily be Cedar Park, Texas, or Rockville Centre, New York. The stories are very much in the vein of adolescence itself, working the same nerve in me as adolescents do: Getting drunk, getting high, hooking up, wondering if you're the only one, being ostracized, being Too Cool for School, realizing you're filled with rage but not knowing why or what you're raging against.

My Review: I hear people say their high school or college years were so great, so amazing, The Best Years of My Life, and I think, “What planet are YOU from?” I hated adolescence, and I still do. Clearasil and hormones and emotional devastation. Ugh, no thanks, I been there and feel lucky to have escaped at all, though certainly scathed.

So why read this collection of explicitly adolescence-themed stories? Because James Franco is an artist whose work I find really compelling. If you haven't watched 127 Hours, do. This man isn't just another pretty face, he's got what the Finns call sisu. (Google it, the explanation would take too much space in a short review.) The Academy Awards show he couldn't pull off, but movies yes, and writing yes.

His writing is very good. It's not tricky, or show-offy, or self-conscious. It's direct and it's clear and it's nuanced. He uses words the way cops use fingerprint powder, to show you the shape of his ideas without getting you all greasy with hand-sweat and forehead blood. Make no mistake, it's not easy getting words down to this level of fineness, it takes mental grinding and grinding and grinding until there isn't a lump or a clot or a chunk to be seen. Silky, smooth, sensually exciting as it flows past you to take coherent shape in front of you: Stories, people, goddamned annoying kids formed of smoke and ash and powder, living in flashes of lightning—your attention please, there is something interesting happening over here, and if we're lucky, this thirtysomething writer will give us more. Soon.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.(less)

11 likes · like · see review

Feb 06, 2011 Amy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: why-is-this-a-thing, unintentional-humour, the-dumbing-down-of-society, pretentious-book-is-pretentious, nigh-unbearable, absolute-shite

Can I give this less than one star? Because this must be some of the most poorly-written fiction I have ever read. Every story is narrated in first person, and as none of the characters have any personality whatsoever, it's very difficult to tell them all apart. Worse, they are all racist, homophobic, misogynistic jackasses.

None of the stories contain any meaning beyond the petty problems of privileged suburban teens, who apparently do nothing with their time but get drunk, get high, drive their...more

9 likes · like · see review

Oct 04, 2010 karen marked it as to-read

i don't know why, but i really want to shove this book down my pants...

oh, yeah - that's why...

88 likes · like · see review

Aug 25, 2011 Elizabeth added it

Shelves: fiction, california, youngauthors

Uhm...am I the only one from Palo Alto that has read this?
I picked it up because I went to middle school with the actor, and it's written about my home turf in the 90s, so naturally, I was curious.

Every story or so is set in the landmarks of the boring town where I grew up--JLS, Gunn, Paly, the Main Library. Blah Blah Blah.

But here's where I started to get upset. There are a lot of elements in this book that are not fiction. The story about "Mr. B" who molested girls at our middle school, the...more

26 likes · like · see review

Feb 03, 2011 Paul rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Utter, utter dreck. Worse than I expected, even. All the stories are the same thing -- young kids at parties, drinking and getting high. Or else they're in a car, driving somewhere at night. Sometimes they're at a party and then they drive somewhere else, usually another party. Then something depraved/violent happens, though nothing ever comes of it. There's absolutely no consequence to any of these stories or the actions that occur therein -- people being run over by cars (on multiple occasions...more Utter, utter dreck. Worse than I expected, even. All the stories are the same thing -- young kids at parties, drinking and getting high. Or else they're in a car, driving somewhere at night. Sometimes they're at a party and then they drive somewhere else, usually another party. Then something depraved/violent happens, though nothing ever comes of it. There's absolutely no consequence to any of these stories or the actions that occur therein -- people being run over by cars (on multiple occasions), people shooting through doors and windows (on multiple occasions), fourteen year olds being fucked by their soccer coaches, guys passing their Asian girlfriends around so everyone else can have a go, etc. etc. etc. And if this is meant as a commentary on adolescence, well, I'm not buying it. Also though, I'm bored. Very bored.

Reading these stories is like listening to a hyperactive person tell you about something that happened to him this one time, with events piling on top of one another arbitrarily and to no clear end. Then we went to the party and we smoked weed. Then we got high. Then Tim's parent's came home so we ran outside. Then we got in the car. Then we started driving and we didn't know where to go. Then we went to the park. Then we crashed the car. Then we drank some more. When the hyperactive person gets bored, the story ends. No resolution, no wrap-up, no nothing whatsoever. There's no character development, no setting aside from a constant reminder that the stories are set in Palo Alto -- we get street names and the names of several schools, is all. We also get infuriatingly lazy time stamps, thrown in by Franco as if we need a reminder that this is all taking place in the 90s, when he was growing up in Palo Alto. "The TV was on, something about the Gulf War," he throws in. "I played DOOM for a while on my computer." "We listened to 2Pac for a while." I get it, Franco. I get it.

Many of the stories overlap, character-wise, though you wouldn't know it if their names weren't repeated. Every single character here is a shadow. People are either "ugly" or "hot," which is really disappointing. Again, boring boring boring, and perhaps revealing of an author who's a bit vain. Sure, again, maybe a commentary on adolescence. Fine. Still: boring.

How about this line: "After school I sat at a picnic bench and read some Faulkner until about five. Benjy was so retarded, and I loved Quentin." Oh, really. This is from a narrator who contemplates killing a football player because he's ugly and stupid and calls him a faggot. Franco wants to remind us that though he's writing about suburban teenagers, he himself is a scholar, who's read Faulkner, Hemingway, Joyce, etc. Only it doesn't work, and the effect is laughable. Some of the writing, when you get down to details, is just plain bad. How about this line, which appeared in the Atlantic: "Joe just looks at me with that stupid look, covered in flowing blood, going onto his shirt like ketchup randomess, so much messier and more random than I could ever plan." Ketchup randomness, eh? That's great. That's wonderful.

Unshockingly, every single one of these stories is written in the first person. If I had to guess, I'd guess that Franco took these events straight out of his own adolescence, and punched them up with random violence when they weren't interesting enough. The problem is random violence isn't interesting either, especially when it's repeated story after story after story after story. So, again, we're left with an incredibly boring book, without character, without story, without redemption, without setting, without variation.

Horrible.(less)

26 likes · like · see review

Aug 15, 2011 Lisa Cook rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: beyond

I bought this book for a ridiculously low price at my local bankrupt Borders. Had it not been cheap, had it not been James Franco, I would not have even taken the time to pick it up. But, pick it up I did, and I regret it. I honestly wanted to see what all the fuss was about. James Franco was getting his English degree at UCLA at the same time I was getting mine at UCR. He, however, went on to earn his MFA and it would appear that this collection of short stories is all of that fancy higher educ...more I bought this book for a ridiculously low price at my local bankrupt Borders. Had it not been cheap, had it not been James Franco, I would not have even taken the time to pick it up. But, pick it up I did, and I regret it. I honestly wanted to see what all the fuss was about. James Franco was getting his English degree at UCLA at the same time I was getting mine at UCR. He, however, went on to earn his MFA and it would appear that this collection of short stories is all of that fancy higher education put to good use. I say money wasted.

This collection was contrived, trite, unoriginal and boring. The stories were all the same, the themes didn't differ at all, and it wasn't like the ideas were solid to begin with. Each vignette was sort of tied together by similar characters, but because none of the characters were realistic, memorable or even interesting, I could have cared less about their connectivity. The characters are all caricatures of typical angsty and angry teenagers. They have zero depth and aren't even believable. This collection is supposed to shed light on the silent wars, controversies and troubles facing modern teenagers. If these are the people James Franco grew up with, I feel terrible for him. Not every girl is a slut who enjoys being raped by older men. Not every boy is carrying around a gun waiting for something to set him off. Not every thirteen-year-old has already had sex. These stories were written for nothing but shock value. Shame on James Franco for trying to capitalize on a misled generation with actual problems. If this is the best voice American youth has to speak for it, truly the entire country should abandon hope now.

As far as writing style is concerned, Palo Alto was like reading the bastard child of Ernest Hemingway and Chuck Palahniuk. Short, choppy, predictable, the same in every story, no surprises and not a drop of creativity or originality. I was mortified that the writing could be SO bad. Even more disappointing was the fact that so many reviewers praised this book. If they were not kissing ass for the vain hope of tickets to a next big movie premiere, then clearly they were high when they read this book. There was nothing redeeming. Nothing. How disappointing.(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Jun 16, 2013 Allie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-story, american-experience, coming-of-age

Confession: Normally I don't sit through books like this because I'm a sheltered safe suburban child who gets traumatized easily. For example, I totally dropped Drown by Junot Diaz super fast back in like 2007.

So when I read Palo Alto all the way through, it was because I was curious about James Franco's writing and workshop education.

I thought that most of these stories blended into one another, which is not necessarily a bad thing and seems to happen in a lot of short story collections. All of...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 11, 2011 ALPHAreader rated it 2 of 5 stars

‘Palo Alto’ is a collection of short-stories from Golden Globe winning actor, James Franco. Franco, as well as being an actor, artist and soon-to-be Oscars host, studied writing at Brooklyn College. ‘Palo Alto’ is the accumulation of his studies, and a life spent growing up in the Palo Alto area. . .

I admit that I wouldn’t have been interested in this collection of short stories if they weren’t penned by the (hunky) Franco. I've liked him since ‘Freaks and Geeks’, but especially for his winning...more ‘Palo Alto’ is a collection of short-stories from Golden Globe winning actor, James Franco. Franco, as well as being an actor, artist and soon-to-be Oscars host, studied writing at Brooklyn College. ‘Palo Alto’ is the accumulation of his studies, and a life spent growing up in the Palo Alto area. . .

I admit that I wouldn’t have been interested in this collection of short stories if they weren’t penned by the (hunky) Franco. I've liked him since ‘Freaks and Geeks’, but especially for his winning portrayal of James Dean in a biopic. More than that though, I quite like actor-author books; Steve Martin and Dawn French amongst my favourites. So I was willing to put my crushing on Franco aside and give his first literary foray a read and earnest review . . .

All of the stories are all set in Palo Alto, a Californian charter city. At its worst, the stories are along the lines of Seinfeld’s ‘a show about nothing’ . . . random snatches of nothingness amidst the mundane, with healthy doses of teen angst and selfish shenanigans.

But then some of Franco’s stories are more akin to the E4 ‘Skins’ storytelling. Set in a fairly disinteresting town, Franco tells tale of drunken teen hijinks, with dark undertones (from a careless teenagers’ hit and run to a girl witnessing a boy’s beating death at a house party).

One character in the first story ‘Halloween’ comments on life in Palo Alto:

It was a simple existence, when I look back on it now. I have friends who grew up in New York City, and the stories they have from their childhoods are amazing. Full of colour and culture and danger. I envy them.

It’s that sort of anti-Gossip Girl aspect of teen life. Not dissimilar to ‘Skins’, in that the stories are about an ordinary American town, with ordinary American kids doing ordinary (if hair-raising) things. There’s a lot of truth here, told in a stark and cold manner;

At the party, we three were playing I Never with a bunch of other girls. Someone says, “I never . . .,” and if you’ve done the thing that they say, like cheated on a boyfriend, you have to drink.
“I never had sex at school.”
I drank.
“I never had sex with two guys at once.”
I drank.
“I never had sex with three guys at once.”
When it was my turn to say “I never,” I had a hard time thinking of things to say. I said, “I've never been in love.” So stupid.

I really liked some of Franco’s storytelling. He writes the bare bones of teen life, often with dead-pan hilarity.

But while reading ‘Palo Alto’ I couldn’t help but think James Franco’s work is a little self-indulgent. Sometimes it’s startlingly obvious that Franco is just a recent literary graduate whose favourite book is J.D. Salinger’s ‘Catcher in the Rye’ and he’s trying to write a pale, contemporary comparison. Some of the ‘Palo Alto’ stories do read like the English 101 homework of an angst-ridden Emo teen. And it’s a shame. Because if these weren’t frayed short-stories with only the Palo Alto setting to connect them . . . if Franco had an actual plot to revolve these characters around, he could be great. If there was a plot-trigger, something to kick-start these mundane snatches of life, then Franco could be like the next Donna Tartt – writing about young-adult mundanity with dark undertones.

As it is, ‘Palo Alto’ is a glimpse at what James Franco can do, but not his best work. I think that will come later, and with plot.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Nov 01, 2010 Rodney rated it 2 of 5 stars

There were some real flashes of true talent here. Unfortunately not enough to save what are for the most part boring retreads of Bret Easton Ellis and Jim Carroll ground. There were times, usually in the first couple of pages of each story, where I was slightly intrigued. But this intrigue never carried me to the conclusions of the stories. Then on top of that, most, if not all, of the tales end very underwhelmingly, which can work as a theme if done right. When it comes across as a totally deli...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 17, 2013 Shane rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was a decent read. I tend to gravitate to short story collections these days and I enjoyed this one. It does have issues with the flow. Specifically, not knowing which character is telling the story. There were a few moments when I did wonder who the narrator was. I eventually figured it out but I felt there needed to be just a few more hints about who was the main storyteller.

Otherwise, this book was a great collection for a first time writer of prose and it is worth a read. It is qui...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 07, 2013 Adam rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1970-present, prose

I like James Franco. I've liked him since I saw him in Freaks and Geeks, which is easily one of my favourite TV shows, and I think he's given some really good performances in his film career. I've yet to see any of his directorial efforts, but I'm fairly interested in several of his upcoming and past projects. I'm also not cynical at all about Franco's getting a PhD and teaching classes in lit and film and writing books and so on, because that is exactly what I would do if I was in the position...more I like James Franco. I've liked him since I saw him in Freaks and Geeks, which is easily one of my favourite TV shows, and I think he's given some really good performances in his film career. I've yet to see any of his directorial efforts, but I'm fairly interested in several of his upcoming and past projects. I'm also not cynical at all about Franco's getting a PhD and teaching classes in lit and film and writing books and so on, because that is exactly what I would do if I was in the position to make it happen: I would indulge as many of my loves as possible, and I don't think there's much wrong with that.

Palo Alto is not my type of lit. I don't generally go for this kind of spare, harsh minimalism. But Franco's actually a better writer than several of the more famed minimalists, especially those of the 'Brat Pack.' He does dialogue very well, and there's a dry humour to his descriptions that works well with the material. The content wasn't for me, but I honestly think that Franco writes these stories well, and in a suitable form. His upcoming novel sounds far more interesting, and pretty different, but Palo Alto is a reasonable literary debut. It's not really a relevant or important piece of literature, and it's firmly in a school of writing that I'm not really interested in, but most published books aren't particularly relevant or important. I think this book ought to be given a fair reading. It's not just the doodlings of a Hollywood star who bribed his way into this. Franco clearly loves literature, and has studied under some pretty good writers, chiefly I think Amy Hempel, and this is the work of someone who cares. It's a promising enough debut, though nothing to write home about in itself.

I don't get why a Coppola (Gia this time) is adapting this thing into a movie.

I think Franco should collaborate with Harmony Korine and write a book as the ghost of Alien, his character from Spring Breakers. Can you imagine a book with the following narrative voice: "Look at my sheeyit! I got... I got SHORTS! Every fuckin' color. I got designer T-shirts! I got gold bullets. Motherfuckin' VAM-pires. I got Scarface. On repeat. SCARFACE ON REPEAT. Constant, y'all! I got Escape! Calvin Klein Escape! Mix it up with Calvin Klein Be. Smell nice? I SMELL NICE! That ain't a fuckin' bed; that's a fuckin' art piece. My fuckin' spaceship! U.S.S. Enterprise on this shit. I go to different planets on this motherfucker! Me and my fuckin' Franklins here, we take off. TAKE OFF! Look at my shit. Look at my shit! I got my blue Kool-Aid. I got my fuckin' NUN-CHUCKS. I got shurikens; I got different flavors. I got them sais. Look at that shit, I got sais. I got blades! Look at my sheeyit! This ain't nuttin', I got ROOMS of this shit! I got my dark tannin' oil... lay out by the pool, put on my dark tanning oil... I got machine guns... Look at this, look at this motherfucker here! Look at this motherfucker! Huh? A fucking army up in this shit! "(less)

1 like · like · see review

Nov 02, 2012 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

James Franco a well-known actor and a very accomplished man (not to mention very attractive) has immersed himself in the world of literature. After my rather excitable friend found herself “fan girling” over his good looks she found out he had produced a book, Palo Alto a selection of short stories. She had informed me that James Franco had told the public that his favourite book was none other but his own. I had thought this was quite immodest, and I couldn’t get my head around the fact that on...more

like · see review

Sep 19, 2012 JC rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adolescence, american-literature, friendship, nostalgia, short-stories, united-states

I think I liked the idea of James Franco writing a book more than I like it in practice. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of promise in his writing and a couple of these stories are really quite wonderful, but so many of them were more of the same. On the one hand, we could say that this is the point: that these teenagers are circling around their neighbourhoods, drinking and smoking, because it is always just more of the same for them, and they are seeking something new...but I'm disinclined...more I think I liked the idea of James Franco writing a book more than I like it in practice. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of promise in his writing and a couple of these stories are really quite wonderful, but so many of them were more of the same. On the one hand, we could say that this is the point: that these teenagers are circling around their neighbourhoods, drinking and smoking, because it is always just more of the same for them, and they are seeking something new...but I'm disinclined to rescue those stories in that way.

The first half of the short story cycle, "Palo Alto I", is the stronger section. The stories, while still interlinked, felt more discrete and complete. The second half, "Palo Alto II", feels like Franco wanted to write a novella about Teddy, the hapless character who seems to reappear and dominate most frequently, but didn't know how. In terms of characters, they are fairly uniformly awful, which is to be expected in a book about teenagers; I have a healthy fear of teenagers, which I think stems from the traumatic experience of having been one. (One little kick I did get out of it, however, was nostalgic, remembering what it was like to grow up in the 90s, albeit in Australian suburbia rather than a university town in California.)

There is not a lot of evidence in here for the James Franco Is A Feminist case file that I know many a thinking woman tries to build on bored Friday nights with a bottle of wine (bitch, please: scribbling all over the The Dangerous Book for Boys does not a feminist artist make), even if there is a small conversation toward the end of the final story that tries to interrogate the perceived power relations of a blowjob.

To conclude, it's just a bit hit and miss, but I would be really interested to see what Franco would do with a novel. And I'm still really pissed at him as an actor for being in that god-awful Eat, Pray, Love movie. (As Judith Lucy says, I'd rather smoke, drink, pass out - conveniently the title of her next book.)(less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 31, 2012 Carlos Anderson rated it 2 of 5 stars

Reading off the names of the professors in the author's dedication (Ian Wilson, Mona Simpson, Amy Hempel, Michael Cunningham, Jenny Offil), one already gets a feeling of what they're in for. The work takes a hard minimalist line (I'd argue too hard). The most prominent name on the list, and also probably the most artistically influential, is Amy Hempel, a writer who you could say is like the goddess of contemporary minimalist short fiction. Narratively, there is nothing particularly striking abo...more

like · see review

Jan 13, 2012 Christine E. rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookclub-selection

I didn't think much of this, not because it was depressing, though it was, and not because the disaffected teens didn't seem realistic, because I know kids like them. I didn't like it because each story blurred into the next and though upsetting and violent things happened, few of the characters were memorable or even particularly interesting. I remember what happened, but not who it happened to, because it didn't seem to matter. Perhaps that was Franco's point, but the result for me was that I...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 25, 2011 Jillian Roth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, short-stories

Palo Alto by James Franco is a collection of short stories about teens growing up in California. When I first began to read, it took me quite a few stories to realize how the characters were related to one another. Peripheral characters in one story will go onto narrate the next. It is interesting to see the various perspectives throughout the collection.

Franco is very bold in his writing. The stories are extremely short, each only a few pages, and Franco jumps right into the nitty gritty. Thro...more

like · see review

Jul 23, 2011 Nicole Bae rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm going to be honest. I bought this book because of the Franco name that was attached to it. James Franco is a brilliant actor but his writing is less than okay.

As an aspiring writer myself, it is hard to critique writing because there are so many different styles. Franco's writing style may be fit for short stories but, in my opinion, he should never write novels. His writing style, according to Palo Alto, is very choppy and repetitive in some parts. Unfortunately, it is not a good kind eithe...more

like · see review

Jun 13, 2011 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

You may know James Franco as the actor (producer and director) who starred as the son of Green Goblin in Spiderman or as the stoner in Pineapple Express or as the love interest of Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love (I haven't actually seen that movie but I gathered that was his role... I could be wrong).

Well, the actor who possesses quite the host of artistic outlets is now debuting his writing in a book of short stories based on the city he grew up in -- Palo Alto. I don't know anything about Pal...more You may know James Franco as the actor (producer and director) who starred as the son of Green Goblin in Spiderman or as the stoner in Pineapple Express or as the love interest of Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love (I haven't actually seen that movie but I gathered that was his role... I could be wrong).

Well, the actor who possesses quite the host of artistic outlets is now debuting his writing in a book of short stories based on the city he grew up in -- Palo Alto. I don't know anything about Palo Alto, so it's possible that what I got from the book is missing that little piece, but I wouldn't consider it a hindrance. His stories are (unfortunately) universal to teens all over the country. The stories are all somewhat related only in that they all focus on a core group of adolescents in Palo Alto. Each story is is narrated by a different person (with a couple duplicate narrators) and they make random appearances in each others' stories.

Now, Franco has received mixed reviews, but I really liked his style of writing. It was simple enough which made it engaging, but the messages were fairly profound. I really think, based on his literary style, that he will do well if he decides to write more. That being said, these stories were intense and explicit. They are certainly not for everyone, and I wouldn't recommend them for anyone who is very conservative. The teens in these stories are dealing with the drudgery that is adolescence, especially that of adolescents who get caught up in the worst situations with their peers. One of the ones that hit me the hardest was Chinatown which is actually broken up into three smaller stories. In this, a new Asian girl in town randomly loses her virginity to the narrator who then takes advantage of her by essentially pimping her out to boys throughout the city. She wearily complies, giving "blow jobs" to whomever she's told to, even having them line up one after another for her. This reminded me of a segment of Oprah in which they talked about this pandemic sexual attitude (or maybe lack of self-esteem) that has led to these self-deprecating and dangerous activities. I also know, due to my work in the field, that this type of behavior isn't uncommon in our adolescents, not even with just the "at risk" population.

Some of the stories involved issues of bullying. In American History a boy takes on the assignment in class of realistically acting out the role of a southern man during the civil war by pointing out the merits of slavery, only to later realize others didn't consider it an act and plan on avenging his words. In I Could Kill Someone, a victim of intense bullying makes the decision to kill a fellow classmate to end the torment.

Despite being about young adults, this is not a book for young adults. For those readers who dislike the aspect in young adult books of partying, sex, and drugs as regular activities, this may not be for you, because these stories are raw and in your face. But there's also a sad truth to these stories. One that makes me a little terrified to ever have a teenager of my own one day.

This was a quick read with each story averaging about 15 pages. And like I said, the writing style was engaging. As with any short story collections, there were a few where I'm not quite sure I *got* what the point of the story was, but overall I thought the book had a degree of acumen that Franco expressed well.

And on a happier note, if nothing else, this book allowed me to finally solve the mystery of the children's books author and illustrator I have been searching for years to identify!

Taken from my blog at www.takemeawayreading.com (less)

like · see review

Jun 03, 2011 David Baughman rated it 3 of 5 stars

I know, I should totally bag on this collection of stories because they are written by a goofy and famous actor. I personally have no opinion of James Franco, either way. I mean, I thought he was great in Freaks and Geeks back in the early 00's but none of his movies have really done anything for me. Going into this book, I was completely ambivalent.

But, I mean, I should be snarky and take ol' Mr. Franco down a peg or two, right? That's kind of a problem when the stories in this books are actual...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 03, 2011 See Elle Oh rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, short-stories

I picked this up at the library, after puttering around and not settling on anything because, like always, there were too many good options. This was in the new fiction section, closest to the counter, so really it was an impulse borrow. I wanted to see if James Franco, he of the half dozen simultaneous graduate programs and work-til-you-drop ethic was actually as talented a writer as he seems an actor.

Two things: 1. I didn't like most of this collection, and found it very flawed. 2. I don't th...more I picked this up at the library, after puttering around and not settling on anything because, like always, there were too many good options. This was in the new fiction section, closest to the counter, so really it was an impulse borrow. I wanted to see if James Franco, he of the half dozen simultaneous graduate programs and work-til-you-drop ethic was actually as talented a writer as he seems an actor.

Two things: 1. I didn't like most of this collection, and found it very flawed. 2. I don't think Franco is a bad writer.

All the stories are interconnected, but loosely. They involve most of the same recurring characters, including three or four recurring narrators, but no two stories ever mention/rehash the same events. They're all in first person. The problem is that most of the narrators sound exactly the same. And you don't know whose story you're reading until several pages in and they start to give some details about themselves, some of which aren't even all that telling. Maybe Franco meant to have them all blend and be interchangeable. But it doesn't feel very much like having them all sound alike was purposeful, it feels more like it was due to a lack of skill. That was a huge hurdle for me. There's no way, even in a group of close-knit friends, even in a vacuum, that every character would speak/think/write identically.

For the first four or five stories, I found myself laughing at bits that weren't meant to be funny because the prose was so lazy and repetitive I thought they must all be writing exercises for a prompt like: "Write about something violent/sick/idiotic/sexual and use no more than 200 unique words to do so. The more curse words, the better." I realize they're from the perspectives of teenagers, who sometimes don't have the most developed vocabularies, whose brains are still gelling so that their reasoning isn't always so sharp, who live in bubbles of their own maudlin existences. But, honestly, did it have to be so bleak?

The most disturbing story of all comes almost halfway through. In the most positive light, you can say it describes how a dumb, horny teenage boy makes his girlfriend into a prostitute for his friends. In the harshest light, it's about how a future Law & Order SVU perp orchestrates numerous gang rapes.

That said, I did like a couple of the stories. "April in Three Parts" was good. It actually had something to grab onto and go with, it had narrators who were reflective, who did things and had lives inside them. It was compelling and thoughtful. It's the main reason I'm giving the collection 2 stars, instead of 1.
"Camp" was decent. There were messed up things going on, like in all the stories, but it gave off the vibe that the most messed up things were under the surface of the stories, in the things that were only being hinted at and mentioned in passing. I thought that was well-done.

Franco may become a good writer, even a great one, someday. But, he wasn't one when he wrote the majority of the stories in Palo Alto. I feel like this collection is the thesis for his first MFA (maybe even his undergrad thesis). I feel like he throws some early, really amateur, flat stuff in there, and then some more polished stuff from later in the game. At least I hope that's what happened. I hope some of the crappier stories were written earlier, and ones like "April in Three Parts" were some sort of culmination to his "Palo Alto teen nihilism and debauchery" phase. (less)

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 14, 2011 Margot rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-stories, fiction

This collection of short stories reads like a college creative writing portfolio, and the fact that it was published at all, by a reputable publisher no less, does seem to be at least in part due to Franco's movie-star fame. It starts off with arguably the worst first line of all time: "Ten years ago, my sophomore year in high school, I killed a woman on Halloween."

I can see flashes of the undoubtedly talented writer that Franco will become, but this tome just didn't seem worth the effort and ex...more This collection of short stories reads like a college creative writing portfolio, and the fact that it was published at all, by a reputable publisher no less, does seem to be at least in part due to Franco's movie-star fame. It starts off with arguably the worst first line of all time: "Ten years ago, my sophomore year in high school, I killed a woman on Halloween."

I can see flashes of the undoubtedly talented writer that Franco will become, but this tome just didn't seem worth the effort and expense of publication. That I finished it at all is due entirely to my hard-core Fracophilia. The intentional dumbing-down (although this affectation slips like a bad accent from time to time) of the language and description to match the high school crowd that makes up the alternating protagonists and narrators had the dual effect of growing on me as the stories went on, and wearing me down with the incomprehensible violence and idiocy as their terrible life decisions played out across the pages. Luckily the book is relatively short, because I don't think I could have handled one more story of drunken racial brawls, date and/or gang rape, drunk driving and other acts that come of that particular teenage combination of desperation and indifference. It often felt like those gossipy conversations at parties about groups of people not present, none of whom you know.

I do enjoy works that are heavily grounded in a specific geographic area, and Franco's familiarity with Palo Alto will no doubt grab the interest of locals.

I do have to admit that this book did cause a strong reaction in me, which is something, at least! I look forward to reading some future, more polished work of Franco's.

A couple of samples:
"Funny how new facts pop up and make you doubt that there's any goodness in life. Everyone pretends to be normal and be your friend, but underneath, everyone is living some other life you don't know about, and if only we had a camera on us at all times, we could go and watch each other's tapes and find out what each of us was really like. But then you'd have to watch girls go poo and boys trying to go down on themselves."(5)

"I sit in the driver's seat of my grandfather's old DeVille. It is night out and cool. Me and Joe, we just sit.
We're out in front of the Unified Palo Alto School District office, a dead one-story building where old people work. I think of all the boring English teachers I have ever had, and I think they were all born in this building.
We sit here because it's dark, and there are no lights outside this building. We're stopped for no reason except that the night is still going and we're drunk, and who wants to go home, ever, and this spot is as good as any to just sit in the shadows and let life slow."(185)(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Feb 19, 2011 Rebecca rated it 2 of 5 stars

I had trouble choosing a star rating for this book (between 2 and 3); mainly because it was one of those books I couldn't put down, which made me think that I must like it. Then I remembered that I have binged on serial teen soaps, watching several episodes of "Dawson's Creek" or "One Tree Hill" in a row and I don't actually like those shows. "Palo Alto: Stories" is definitely better than a WB teen soap, but it has a similar failing to those teenage soaps - characterization. The stories are told...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 26, 2011 EZRead eBookstore rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: jenifer-reviews

When I tell people I’m reading a book by James Franco, I get a lot of ‘tee-hee’. I think this is because James Franco is a studly dudly, probably getting a massage in his penthouse right now, and maybe has a pool filled with teeny Swarovski crystals. He also was admitted to Columbia and has been given thumbs-up by literary names I respect, like Gary Shteyngart and Dave Eggers. While he’s donning little Ginsberg glasses for a biopic, we can’t imagine Franco expects us to love and read his work. I...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 13, 2011 Mark Staniforth rated it 4 of 5 stars

James Franco's Palo Alto is as shocking a portrayal of adolescence as I've read in a long time. It would be easy to be contemptuous: here's a good-looking Hollywood star writing paens of teenage ultra-angst. Honest, I don't give much of a shit who James Franco is. All I know is he can write. They're tough, fractured tales almost entirely devoid of characterization. The narrators all sound the same. They toss subjects like roach butts. The stories kind of bleed into one. They never finish with a...more

7 likes · like · see review

Dec 21, 2010 Edwin Arnaudin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wasn't sure if I would like Franco's first collection of stories. An excerpt of "I Could Kill Someone" appeared in Entertainment Weekly and felt amateurish. The sentences were clunky and I didn't love the descriptive style. Still, Franco has studied in Columbia MFA writing program (how the #&$* did he get in? Were his work samples that strong?) and he's got folks like Michael Cunningham and Gary Shteyngart (who are also his teachers) vouching for him. He's gotta have some writing talent, r...more

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 09, 2010 Iroquois rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction, short-stories-essays-anthologies

Well, he's got a crazy side to him that's for sure, lol!

Though I didn't find it to be a "great work", it was definitely a really good first book, worth the read and interesting right from the start.
Which in itself is a major accomplishment since so many writers are boring in their intros.

It's actually pretty typical of contemporary literary short fic, so I think that a lot of the reviewers and people hating it are probably readers not familiar with the already weird genre. At least for me it's...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 28, 2010 Lit Fest Magazine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Teenage angst is nothing new. Presenting the entangled mess of emotions in a solid, passionate story, however, is something writers have been battling with since the beginning of time. Now, in 2010, a phenomenal new writer has emerged. Actor James Franco has entered the world of fiction, presenting his first book PALO ALTO, giving readers eleven short stories of adolescence, with the raw details and bitter reality rarely developed so well.

Franco’s writing is simple, not overly convoluted just d...more

3 likes · like · see review

Oct 22, 2010 Cynthia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2010

I’m appalled by these stories though there is literary merit in them. Franco writes with exactitude in an adolescent’s voice even to the point of boredom. Some of the stories almost seem soulless. Racism, violence and misogyny are all included. The stories are interrelated with characters leaching in and out as the perspective changes. They are ugly; both the stories and the characters. And then I came to ‘April: A Story in Three Parts’. It’s just as raw as the other stories but without the hard...more

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 20, 2010 Trin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-lit, fiction, shortstories

Wow, people really seem to hate this. I'm guessing that's about 50 percent because it's a collection of short stories focusing on fucked-up teenagers being violent and despairing and awful to themselves and others, and 50 percent because it's a collection like that written by James Franco, who is hotter and richer and more famous than you are. I'm divided 50/50 myself on how much it would suck to be a James Franco coming out with your debut literary effort, compared to Jo(e) Blow: on the one han...more Wow, people really seem to hate this. I'm guessing that's about 50 percent because it's a collection of short stories focusing on fucked-up teenagers being violent and despairing and awful to themselves and others, and 50 percent because it's a collection like that written by James Franco, who is hotter and richer and more famous than you are. I'm divided 50/50 myself on how much it would suck to be a James Franco coming out with your debut literary effort, compared to Jo(e) Blow: on the one hand, James Franco is almost guaranteed a publishing deal and some attention; on the other hand, people are far less likely to be immediately dismissive of Jo(e) Blow because they are confused at/enraged by/busy masturbating to how pouty and biteable Franco's lips look in his author photo.

But setting all that aside for a minute: is this collection worth reading at all? I think so; I think it paints a lively-voiced, accurate, occasionally incisive, and at times darkly funny portrait of teenage nihilism that's scary because it's full of the things most people don't want to recognize as true. Now, my teenage years were not like those presented in this collection, but they touched upon others that were—enough that I shivered to feel near to that again. The Palo Alto of James Franco's mind is definitely not a place I want to spend a lot of time.

Which is one of the many things that makes this collection far from perfect: in adhering so tightly to a theme, all of the stories in this book do eventually begin to feel the same; they're almost oppressive in their sameness. Franco is also not exactly covering untouched territory here—although he is, I think, covering it well—but it would be interesting to see him push himself, try something different, new. And, okay: what a thing for me to demand of a guy who's acting, writing, doing weird art exhibits, and getting multiple graduate degrees, but there you go. You're famous, people start having weird expectations for you.

So instead, how about this: this may not be the best short story collection ever, James, or even anywhere close; but I'm fascinated that you wrote it, that it's as raw as you made it, that it exists at all. Please keep fascinating me, however you may choose to do so.

Regards,
Jo Blow(less)

12 likes · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (12)

More editions...

Videos About This Book

Add a comment

Genres

Short Stories

79 users

Contemporary

9 users

Young Adult > Coming Of Age

6 users

Adult Fiction

6 users

Realistic Fiction

4 users

Literature > American

4 users

Young Adult

3 users

Literature

3 users

Literary Fiction

2 users

Adult

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Cataclysm Baby
by Matt Bell
Lucky Girls
by Nell Freudenberger
Severance: Stories
by Robert Olen Butler
Dimanche and Other Stories
by Irène Némirovsky
AM/PM
by Amelia Gray

About James Franco

James Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, film producer, author, and painter. He began acting during the late 1990s, appearing on the short-lived television series Freaks and Geeks and starring in several teen films. In 2001 he played the title role in Mark Rydell's television biographical film James Dean, which earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries...more

More about James Franco...

Books by James Franco

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Palo Alto

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Palo Alto

“Everyone pretends to be normal and be your best friend, but underneath, everyone is living some other life you don't know about, and if only we had a camera on us at all times, we could go and watch each other's tapes and find out what each of us was really like.” — 19 people liked it

“Funny how new facts pop up and make you doubt that there's any goodness in life. Everyone pretends to be normal and be your friend, but underneath, everyone is living some other life you don't know about...” — 14 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Palo Alto
avg rating	preview: Palo Alto Goodreads rating: 2.82 (1995 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7840834-palo-alto?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347887366l/7840834.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7840834-palo-alto?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Palo Alto by James Franco[/url]

Palo Alto

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website