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Palo Alto: Stories
A fiercely vivid collection of stories about troubled California teenagers and misfits--violent and harrowing, from the 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 of teenagers as they experiment with vices of all kinds, struggle with their families and one another, and succumb to self-destructive, often heartless nihilism. In "Lockheed" a young woman's summer--spent working a dull internship--is suddenly upended by a spectacular incident of violence at a house party. In "American History" a high school freshman attempts to impress a girl during a classroom skit with a realistic portrayal of a slave owner—only to have his feigned bigotry avenged. In "I Could Kill Someone," a lonely teenager buys a gun with the aim of killing his high school tormentor, but begins to wonder about his bully's own inner life.
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 of teenagers as they experiment with vices of all kinds, struggle with their families and one another, and succumb to self-destructive, often heartless nihilism. In "Lockheed" a young woman's summer--spent working a dull internship--is suddenly upended by a spectacular incident of violence at a house party. In "American History" a high school freshman attempts to impress a girl during a classroom skit with a realistic portrayal of a slave owner—only to have his feigned bigotry avenged. In "I Could Kill Someone," a lonely teenager buys a gun with the aim of killing his high school tormentor, but begins to wonder about his bully's own inner life.
These linked stories, stark, vivid, and disturbing, are a compelling portrait of lives on the rough fringes of youth.
Palo Alto I: Halloween --
Lockheed --
American history --
Killing animals --
Emily --
Camp --
Chinatown --
Vietnam, part 1 --
Headless, part 2 --
Caffe Buon, part 3 --
Palo Alto II: April --
The rainbow goblins, part 1 --
Wasting, part 2 --
April, part 3 --
Tar baby --
I could kill someone --
Jack-o' --
Yosemite
213 pages, Paperback
First published October 19, 2009
406 people are currently reading
7967 people want to read
About the author
James Franco
51 books992 followersJames 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 or Television Film.
Franco achieved international fame with his portrayal of Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man trilogy. Since then, his films have included the war film The Great Raid (2005), the 2006 romantic drama Tristan & Isolde, and Justin Lin's drama Annapolis (2006). In 2008, Franco starred in the comedy stoner film Pineapple Express and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He played a prominent role in the 2008 biographical film Milk. In 2010, he played the lead role in Howl as Allen Ginsberg, and 127 Hours, a film about Aron Ralston, an American mountaineer who cut off his own arm to free himself after he was trapped beneath a boulder. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.
In 2010, Franco published a collection of short stories called Palo Alto. The book is named after the California city where Franco grew up and is dedicated to many of the writers he worked with at Brooklyn College. The book has received mixed reviews; Los Angeles Times called it "the work of an ambitious young man who clearly loves to read, who has a good eye for detail, but who has spent way too much time on style and virtually none on substance". The Guardian said that "The Hollywood star's foray into the literary world may be met with cynicism in some quarters, but this is a promising debut from a most unlikely source."
Franco achieved international fame with his portrayal of Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man trilogy. Since then, his films have included the war film The Great Raid (2005), the 2006 romantic drama Tristan & Isolde, and Justin Lin's drama Annapolis (2006). In 2008, Franco starred in the comedy stoner film Pineapple Express and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He played a prominent role in the 2008 biographical film Milk. In 2010, he played the lead role in Howl as Allen Ginsberg, and 127 Hours, a film about Aron Ralston, an American mountaineer who cut off his own arm to free himself after he was trapped beneath a boulder. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.
In 2010, Franco published a collection of short stories called Palo Alto. The book is named after the California city where Franco grew up and is dedicated to many of the writers he worked with at Brooklyn College. The book has received mixed reviews; Los Angeles Times called it "the work of an ambitious young man who clearly loves to read, who has a good eye for detail, but who has spent way too much time on style and virtually none on substance". The Guardian said that "The Hollywood star's foray into the literary world may be met with cynicism in some quarters, but this is a promising debut from a most unlikely source."
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ceci-n-est-ce-pas-un-compte-rendu
October 25, 2015i don't know why, but i really want to shove this book down my pants...
oh, yeah - that's why...
oh, yeah - that's why...
October 22, 2013
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 parents 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.
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 parents 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.
October 21, 2010
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
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
April 20, 2019
I quite liked this till about 15% in and boy did it go downhill from there. I thought the writing was bad. Like really bad. Every sentence was so short you would pause every couple seconds, IT'S NOT DIFFICULT TO MAKE A SENTENCE LONGER THAN 5 WORDS DAMN IT. Why I made myself push through this damn book I still have no idea, should've DNF'd it a long while before the end.
Characters were shit for no reason. Very over the top and unrealistic.
Don't bother, James Franco should stick to acting.
1.5 stars.
Film review: https://letterboxd.com/rioxide/film/p...
Characters were shit for no reason. Very over the top and unrealistic.
Don't bother, James Franco should stick to acting.
1.5 stars.
Film review: https://letterboxd.com/rioxide/film/p...
November 18, 2011
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 young man who got caught between two boulders in 127 HOURS
Now his book:
12 short stories narrated by 12 young Americans with teenage angst. Think of Holden Caulfield multiplied by twelve. The narrators are all speaking in short conversational no-big words English and their thoughts are direct yet fragmented, sincere yet cold, claustrophobic yet far-reaching, deep yet vague. Their topics are about what’s going on – in their” small” worlds - in Palo Alto, a charter city in California that is home to Franco as well as to Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Sergey Brin (Google), Debbie Fields (Mrs. Fields – the cookies), David Filo (Yahoo!), David Packard (the “P” in HP) and was –may he rest in peace - home to Steve Jobs (Apple). With the progressive and high-tech city like Palo Alto, the parents must have been very busy making money and in the process, no more time to guide their children. These young people are confused and disillusioned and find their refuge in drugs, free sex, material things so they get caught in meaningless accidents, racial/gender assaults, sexual drama/crime and in the end, they are just down, isolated and lonely young Americans.
Franco is not just all male-beauty. He was said to be reading Iliad in between takes during the shooting of Pineapple Express. He took creative writing workshops and has been guided by well-respected writers like Michael Cunningham, Susan Minot, Ben Markus, etc and the recent find: Gary Shteyngart, the author of Super-Sad True Love Stories. Needless to say, Franco knows his game. This book was first published with no picture on the cover. Then the publishers thought of putting a half-naked boy sitting at the back of the car with eyes closed that look like he is having an orgasm. Yes, look at the cover! This is by design: most of the twelve stories have these boys with erect penis, flapping penis, one ball peeking from the underwear, etc. I think there is no story without Franco mentioning either penis, pussy, vagina, etc. He is also fond of describing his characters only by their physical attributes. Since the character-narrator uses first-person, there are times that you can’t help but use Franco’s face to the boy-character whose penis is hanging and flapping while he runs. I know, too much imagination is also bad.
But yes, he is not just a good actor. He is also now an author to watch out for.
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 young man who got caught between two boulders in 127 HOURS
Now his book:
12 short stories narrated by 12 young Americans with teenage angst. Think of Holden Caulfield multiplied by twelve. The narrators are all speaking in short conversational no-big words English and their thoughts are direct yet fragmented, sincere yet cold, claustrophobic yet far-reaching, deep yet vague. Their topics are about what’s going on – in their” small” worlds - in Palo Alto, a charter city in California that is home to Franco as well as to Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Sergey Brin (Google), Debbie Fields (Mrs. Fields – the cookies), David Filo (Yahoo!), David Packard (the “P” in HP) and was –may he rest in peace - home to Steve Jobs (Apple). With the progressive and high-tech city like Palo Alto, the parents must have been very busy making money and in the process, no more time to guide their children. These young people are confused and disillusioned and find their refuge in drugs, free sex, material things so they get caught in meaningless accidents, racial/gender assaults, sexual drama/crime and in the end, they are just down, isolated and lonely young Americans.
Franco is not just all male-beauty. He was said to be reading Iliad in between takes during the shooting of Pineapple Express. He took creative writing workshops and has been guided by well-respected writers like Michael Cunningham, Susan Minot, Ben Markus, etc and the recent find: Gary Shteyngart, the author of Super-Sad True Love Stories. Needless to say, Franco knows his game. This book was first published with no picture on the cover. Then the publishers thought of putting a half-naked boy sitting at the back of the car with eyes closed that look like he is having an orgasm. Yes, look at the cover! This is by design: most of the twelve stories have these boys with erect penis, flapping penis, one ball peeking from the underwear, etc. I think there is no story without Franco mentioning either penis, pussy, vagina, etc. He is also fond of describing his characters only by their physical attributes. Since the character-narrator uses first-person, there are times that you can’t help but use Franco’s face to the boy-character whose penis is hanging and flapping while he runs. I know, too much imagination is also bad.
But yes, he is not just a good actor. He is also now an author to watch out for.
September 1, 2021
I DNFed this one. Leafed through it and didn't like the writing style. Another GR reviewer remarked on the "stark and cold manner" - she nailed it. I couldn't figure out what I didn't like about this book as I leafed through it, but after reading her review, I had to agree: this distant "reporting" was too much like listening to a TV broadcast. (See ALPHAReader's review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
If certain writers aren't brave enough to bring ALL of themselves, including their emotions, to the writing table, then I am not interested in reading their books. Shame, because Franco is a talented actor. When I got to the college gang bang story, I snapped the book shut and put it back on the bookstore shelf: no mention was made of whether the girl (who had just dropped by the dorm) was really into that sort of thing, like Messalina, in I, Claudius, or was mentally/emotionally messed up and they young men just didn't care? Yuck! And yes, the disinterested tone angered me, especially during this particular scene. Another day at the dorm, ho-hum.
Franco is reputedly a borderline math genius: it shows. His purely observational recounting of the events in the various stories makes me think he is AFRAID to reveal any emotion. Does he think it will demean him in a reader's eyes? Does he want us to admire his "sangfroid"? Is this a stylistic gimmick, or is this all he is capable of?
I was so dismayed by this writing style that I went back and took out gifs with him in it from some of my other reviews. The author does seem to be able to PORTRAY emotions onscreen, but he either chooses or refuses to exhibit them in his writing.
If you want to read a series of stories that sound like they were written by a computer, then by all means, this is the book for you. Can you feel my disappointment? I read that James Franco has Portuguese blood flowing in his veins. Being of Portuguese descent myself, I am wondering if that was just a rumour. I DNFed this one.
If certain writers aren't brave enough to bring ALL of themselves, including their emotions, to the writing table, then I am not interested in reading their books. Shame, because Franco is a talented actor. When I got to the college gang bang story, I snapped the book shut and put it back on the bookstore shelf: no mention was made of whether the girl (who had just dropped by the dorm) was really into that sort of thing, like Messalina, in I, Claudius, or was mentally/emotionally messed up and they young men just didn't care? Yuck! And yes, the disinterested tone angered me, especially during this particular scene. Another day at the dorm, ho-hum.
Franco is reputedly a borderline math genius: it shows. His purely observational recounting of the events in the various stories makes me think he is AFRAID to reveal any emotion. Does he think it will demean him in a reader's eyes? Does he want us to admire his "sangfroid"? Is this a stylistic gimmick, or is this all he is capable of?
I was so dismayed by this writing style that I went back and took out gifs with him in it from some of my other reviews. The author does seem to be able to PORTRAY emotions onscreen, but he either chooses or refuses to exhibit them in his writing.
If you want to read a series of stories that sound like they were written by a computer, then by all means, this is the book for you. Can you feel my disappointment? I read that James Franco has Portuguese blood flowing in his veins. Being of Portuguese descent myself, I am wondering if that was just a rumour. I DNFed this one.
January 13, 2011
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 nice pretty bow tied on top. To me, it just adds to the bleakness. One of the best and bleakest, Chinatown, ends:
'When we got older, I did things in my life and she did things in her life'.
It's full of casual sex and random violence. The shocking thing is maybe how much you can relate to these characters. Throw yourself back and it's easy to feel their pain. Easy to imagine being the bullied guy in 'I Could Kill Someone' who gets a gun and fantasizes over shooting his jock tormentor. Don't let the prudes put you off. Criticising the content in Palo Alto is a bit like trying to deny that the folk in Huck Finn's Deep South ever used the n-word.
Some don't really hit the mark. Funny, they're mostly the ones that grasp for meaning or metaphors, like the old folks' home sketch in April. Overall, it's one big tough take on the time of all our lives. More disturbing, I'd say, than going to the cinema and watching a guy have to cut his own arm off.
'When we got older, I did things in my life and she did things in her life'.
It's full of casual sex and random violence. The shocking thing is maybe how much you can relate to these characters. Throw yourself back and it's easy to feel their pain. Easy to imagine being the bullied guy in 'I Could Kill Someone' who gets a gun and fantasizes over shooting his jock tormentor. Don't let the prudes put you off. Criticising the content in Palo Alto is a bit like trying to deny that the folk in Huck Finn's Deep South ever used the n-word.
Some don't really hit the mark. Funny, they're mostly the ones that grasp for meaning or metaphors, like the old folks' home sketch in April. Overall, it's one big tough take on the time of all our lives. More disturbing, I'd say, than going to the cinema and watching a guy have to cut his own arm off.
March 25, 2017
I like starting a review with a quote I enjoyed, but I guess that can't happen when there literally wasn't a single sentence that made me stop and think. This was most definitely one of the worst books I have ever read and I would recommend everyone to stay clear of it if they value their time.
Palo Alto tells the story of 12 American teenagers in form of 12 short stories. What attracted me to it was the mere curiosity of whether James Franco was a capable writer or if he was one of those "celebrities" that just have their fingers in too many pies (The back-cover describes him as an actor, director, screenwriter and artist). Well, the writing was insufferable and on the verge to moronic.
"I drank from the bottle again and it was a scary plunge because I always wanted to take too much. It hurt, but it was also impressive, like being in the hands of a bigger force. And because of that, a relief."
I got strong Jack Kerouac / Beat generation vibes from his novel and while I enjoy that bunch's writing, it's the authenticity that those stories have and this one lacks that makes a massive difference. Multiple times I started wondering if the narrator was actually mentally retarded due to the way they expressed their feelings and thoughts. And speaking of their thoughts, the only thing worse than the writing style was the plot.
All stories are centred around sex, violence, alcohol or drugs in the least stimulating way and nothing ever comes of it. In none of the stories there seemed to be any proper narrative structure, usually something happened and that was it - no development, no consequences. Another thing that made these stories ridiculous were how Franco tried to leave clues about how much of a well-educated scholar he himself is. We've got these characters saying things like (brace yourself) "My shit tastes like cocoa butter!" and then going off to read Crime and Punishment. Really?
I don't buy it. I didn't buy any of it. Please don't buy this.
Palo Alto tells the story of 12 American teenagers in form of 12 short stories. What attracted me to it was the mere curiosity of whether James Franco was a capable writer or if he was one of those "celebrities" that just have their fingers in too many pies (The back-cover describes him as an actor, director, screenwriter and artist). Well, the writing was insufferable and on the verge to moronic.
"I drank from the bottle again and it was a scary plunge because I always wanted to take too much. It hurt, but it was also impressive, like being in the hands of a bigger force. And because of that, a relief."
I got strong Jack Kerouac / Beat generation vibes from his novel and while I enjoy that bunch's writing, it's the authenticity that those stories have and this one lacks that makes a massive difference. Multiple times I started wondering if the narrator was actually mentally retarded due to the way they expressed their feelings and thoughts. And speaking of their thoughts, the only thing worse than the writing style was the plot.
All stories are centred around sex, violence, alcohol or drugs in the least stimulating way and nothing ever comes of it. In none of the stories there seemed to be any proper narrative structure, usually something happened and that was it - no development, no consequences. Another thing that made these stories ridiculous were how Franco tried to leave clues about how much of a well-educated scholar he himself is. We've got these characters saying things like (brace yourself) "My shit tastes like cocoa butter!" and then going off to read Crime and Punishment. Really?
I don't buy it. I didn't buy any of it. Please don't buy this.
July 30, 2014
Boy, this book gets a lot of hate. And I'm clearly in the minority here... I don't even like James Franco that much, I think he's a good actor and I've seen a few of his films, most of which I liked. What led me to read this was the movie (with the same title) that is coming out soon and that I want to watch, so I wanted to read it first. So I went into this not expecting much and without preconceived ideas of what to expect. And I loved, loved, loved this book.
Okay, so I see a lot of the criticism derives from the fact that most people don't identify with the teenage experiences described in the book. Also, the book was marketed as being a tell-all about the lives of the youth in America. That it is not. This is an account of the lives of different kids, most of them from a privileged background, on a very specific place, many with common experiences among themselves - I suspect this is because they went to the same schools and shared acquaintances. Many of short stories present in this book don't exactly center on the common high-school experience but in the abnormalities in the aforementioned experience.
Also, ignoring a book or feeling that it is not good because a few of it's accounts are based on true events doesn't seem fair either. These things could have happened anywhere and, retelling a story and adding to it is called being inspired by something you lived or saw happen and putting it on paper.
On the other hand, being upset because a character used a certain word or acted a certain way is not a valid reason to dislike a book. I mean, you can ignore the fact that racism, sexism, inequality exist, but they won't go away because you ignore them. They will still be very much present in your everyday life. This goes for books too. A character feeling a certain way or having certain ideals does not reflect the views of the writer.
Being this a short story compilation it is not homogeneous. There are some short stories that are better than others, of course. But, looking at the big picture I felt that these were extremely achieved. The writing is simple and in short sentences, not contrived at all. But, as far as I'm concerned, the author managed to make me visualize the imagery he was trying to portray and I found his writing very evocative. In lack of a better description, it just flows. It is fluid, it feels like a smooth ride. He also managed to share a certain sense of vacuum, of emptiness in his writing, which revealed the character's state of mind and personality. The picture painted is bleak.
While there are common points that interconnect in every short story and, looking from a distance they melt into one sole experience, these felt individual and worthy in their own merit and never feel like a pastiche of one another.
I do understand why some readers might have felt like most of these lead to nowhere or that there was no real outcome of the events portrayed but I appreciated that. It is easy to understand where the characters come from, the reason behind why they feel the way they do. And, while they share similarities, they are not forced or dishonest. They sound real in their core.
A great read and I'm looking forward to reading more from Mr. Franco.
Okay, so I see a lot of the criticism derives from the fact that most people don't identify with the teenage experiences described in the book. Also, the book was marketed as being a tell-all about the lives of the youth in America. That it is not. This is an account of the lives of different kids, most of them from a privileged background, on a very specific place, many with common experiences among themselves - I suspect this is because they went to the same schools and shared acquaintances. Many of short stories present in this book don't exactly center on the common high-school experience but in the abnormalities in the aforementioned experience.
Also, ignoring a book or feeling that it is not good because a few of it's accounts are based on true events doesn't seem fair either. These things could have happened anywhere and, retelling a story and adding to it is called being inspired by something you lived or saw happen and putting it on paper.
On the other hand, being upset because a character used a certain word or acted a certain way is not a valid reason to dislike a book. I mean, you can ignore the fact that racism, sexism, inequality exist, but they won't go away because you ignore them. They will still be very much present in your everyday life. This goes for books too. A character feeling a certain way or having certain ideals does not reflect the views of the writer.
Being this a short story compilation it is not homogeneous. There are some short stories that are better than others, of course. But, looking at the big picture I felt that these were extremely achieved. The writing is simple and in short sentences, not contrived at all. But, as far as I'm concerned, the author managed to make me visualize the imagery he was trying to portray and I found his writing very evocative. In lack of a better description, it just flows. It is fluid, it feels like a smooth ride. He also managed to share a certain sense of vacuum, of emptiness in his writing, which revealed the character's state of mind and personality. The picture painted is bleak.
While there are common points that interconnect in every short story and, looking from a distance they melt into one sole experience, these felt individual and worthy in their own merit and never feel like a pastiche of one another.
I do understand why some readers might have felt like most of these lead to nowhere or that there was no real outcome of the events portrayed but I appreciated that. It is easy to understand where the characters come from, the reason behind why they feel the way they do. And, while they share similarities, they are not forced or dishonest. They sound real in their core.
A great read and I'm looking forward to reading more from Mr. Franco.
May 25, 2013
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.
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.
July 11, 2017
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.
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.
never
July 23, 2015I've always kinda been ambivalent about James Franco, he hasn't really occupied much of my thought-energy ; but after reading his joke-essay (what exactly was that anyway?) in the Vollmann critical collection, I'm fairly sure he's a brainless twit - why he is considered a "writer" or academic of any kind is beyond me. Why anyone interested in literature would waste their time reading a stoned actor's drivel is also beyond me.
April 6, 2016
0 stars. Actually, negative infinity stars.
This is, unequivocally, without a doubt the worst book I have ever read in my life. If I ever read a book that I hate more, I will personally track down the author so I can shake their hand and congratulate them because they will have pulled off a feat that I believe now to be humanly impossible.
James Franco could have taken a shit on a piece of paper and it would be better than this book. He developed absolutely nothing of literary value. His stories are generally just directionless ramblings about cliche teenage debauchery, peppered with an occasional hideously bad simile (ex: "like a fat something-awful: hockey-player-pumpkin-cartoon-shithead.") But mostly, he writes with the sentence structural abilities of a child. A child who has just learned all the swears in the world and isn't afraid to use them. Take this, for example:
....that pretty much sums up what Franco did with this novel! He vandalized a bunch of innocent trees with his "book." Turns out what he wrote is a string of garbage that nobody understands but I guess he thinks it's... 'something.'
More than anything, this book is just obscenely racist, misogynistic, homophobic, fatphobic, ableist, anti-semitic, AND MORE. If you can think of something offensive, it's probably in this book. I'm pretty sure this is a combination of 1) a weak attempt at shock value, 2) an even weaker attempt at social commentary, but mostly 3) Franco's own opinions unintentionally bleeding onto the page.
Honestly, I have NO idea how someone could read this book and maintain even an ounce of respect for James Franco.
I will give credit where credit is due: this book provided endless entertainment for my friends while we were in college. I'd do live readings of each chapter and we'd start laughing hysterically over sentences like "I'd fuck a tree" or "his lips were full of a thickness of feeling" (yes these are direct quotes and yes the entire book is like this.) So.... thanks for the memories? You and your book are still trash, though.
This is, unequivocally, without a doubt the worst book I have ever read in my life. If I ever read a book that I hate more, I will personally track down the author so I can shake their hand and congratulate them because they will have pulled off a feat that I believe now to be humanly impossible.
James Franco could have taken a shit on a piece of paper and it would be better than this book. He developed absolutely nothing of literary value. His stories are generally just directionless ramblings about cliche teenage debauchery, peppered with an occasional hideously bad simile (ex: "like a fat something-awful: hockey-player-pumpkin-cartoon-shithead.") But mostly, he writes with the sentence structural abilities of a child. A child who has just learned all the swears in the world and isn't afraid to use them. Take this, for example:
I stood up and went to the wall. I had a black Sharpie in my pocket and I wrote SHIT FUCK COCK SUCK DIE ASS NOTHINGLESS MEANINGLESS CRY. . .
"What does all that mean? said Barry.
"Nothing," I said, but it was something.
....that pretty much sums up what Franco did with this novel! He vandalized a bunch of innocent trees with his "book." Turns out what he wrote is a string of garbage that nobody understands but I guess he thinks it's... 'something.'
More than anything, this book is just obscenely racist, misogynistic, homophobic, fatphobic, ableist, anti-semitic, AND MORE. If you can think of something offensive, it's probably in this book. I'm pretty sure this is a combination of 1) a weak attempt at shock value, 2) an even weaker attempt at social commentary, but mostly 3) Franco's own opinions unintentionally bleeding onto the page.
Honestly, I have NO idea how someone could read this book and maintain even an ounce of respect for James Franco.
I will give credit where credit is due: this book provided endless entertainment for my friends while we were in college. I'd do live readings of each chapter and we'd start laughing hysterically over sentences like "I'd fuck a tree" or "his lips were full of a thickness of feeling" (yes these are direct quotes and yes the entire book is like this.) So.... thanks for the memories? You and your book are still trash, though.
May 22, 2016
Just plain awful!, I am trying to think who this would actually appeal to?...maybe the younger hip generation but it's not for me, abandoned ship after only sixty five pages as just did not like the subject matter and the writing was bad, was even kind enough to give it a second chance but to no avail. One to avoid.
December 16, 2023
This book has to be a joke. This is a terrible, terrible book.
Two scenarios
A yes-man employee of James Franco had to have told James Franco that he is perfect and would be a great writer and James Franco being a narcissist, decided to go forth with writing a collection of short stories. OR James Franco is playing a joke on everyone and seeing how much people will praise his shitty writing just because he's James Franco.
He writes worse than how I wrote when I was 7. It's embarrassing and frankly I'm embarrassed I even gave this book a go (read to page 50. I would have stopped earlier but I have a rule where I have to read up to page 50 before I declare a book worthless). So let my horrible mistake be a lesson to you all.
I leave with an exact quote from Palo Alto,
"I guess I just wanted to get this octopus of bodies out of the car as soon as possible, but it was also more fun to drive faster, as if we were really having a crazy adventure."
Two scenarios
A yes-man employee of James Franco had to have told James Franco that he is perfect and would be a great writer and James Franco being a narcissist, decided to go forth with writing a collection of short stories. OR James Franco is playing a joke on everyone and seeing how much people will praise his shitty writing just because he's James Franco.
He writes worse than how I wrote when I was 7. It's embarrassing and frankly I'm embarrassed I even gave this book a go (read to page 50. I would have stopped earlier but I have a rule where I have to read up to page 50 before I declare a book worthless). So let my horrible mistake be a lesson to you all.
I leave with an exact quote from Palo Alto,
"I guess I just wanted to get this octopus of bodies out of the car as soon as possible, but it was also more fun to drive faster, as if we were really having a crazy adventure."
January 30, 2022
Some of the stories are good, others misogynistic and gross.
May 28, 2023
James Franco, actor, author and director, does not leave his readers wanting more in this collection. All the stories had the same tone and wandering style, even sharing many of the same characters, sometimes? Always? It was not clear.
A vague spacy uncertainty was a hallmark of this collection. The worst of the lot was "Camp" which felt like nothing more than cleaning unused fragments out of the notebook.
If I had read just one or two of these stories I would have been more impressed. I was touched that Franco always feels it is important to describe his male characters as "handsome" or not. Reading the whole thing however ultimately became less entertaining, except for wondering, of course, how much could possibly be true.
A vague spacy uncertainty was a hallmark of this collection. The worst of the lot was "Camp" which felt like nothing more than cleaning unused fragments out of the notebook.
If I had read just one or two of these stories I would have been more impressed. I was touched that Franco always feels it is important to describe his male characters as "handsome" or not. Reading the whole thing however ultimately became less entertaining, except for wondering, of course, how much could possibly be true.
June 11, 2011
‘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.
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.
November 24, 2014
Cover-lust! This is a different form of cover-lust than my normal one.... I am not attracted to that cover nearly as much as the writer.
The James Franco:
(Honestly, I can't even explain my attraction to him. He is at once one of the strangest looking AND sexiest men, in my opinion)
Anyways, his face is not the point; his writing is.
Palo Alto is a very bold collection. Franco's writing style reminds me, somewhat, of Ellis' circa Less Than Zero, which in itself is not bad. I found his minimalist style intriguing without being fully engaged.
I am having a hard time reviewing this because I'm still not quite sure WHAT it is. It reads a little bit like spoken verse OR a collection of journal excerpts, I'm not really sure. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter what it is. I found it vaguely interesting but not intoxicating. That being said I would probably pick up another Franco novel just to see if I actually like his writing or not.....
The James Franco:
(Honestly, I can't even explain my attraction to him. He is at once one of the strangest looking AND sexiest men, in my opinion)
Anyways, his face is not the point; his writing is.
Palo Alto is a very bold collection. Franco's writing style reminds me, somewhat, of Ellis' circa Less Than Zero, which in itself is not bad. I found his minimalist style intriguing without being fully engaged.
I am having a hard time reviewing this because I'm still not quite sure WHAT it is. It reads a little bit like spoken verse OR a collection of journal excerpts, I'm not really sure. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter what it is. I found it vaguely interesting but not intoxicating. That being said I would probably pick up another Franco novel just to see if I actually like his writing or not.....
March 14, 2011
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)
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)
February 16, 2018
LOL LOL LOL!
Nejlepší nejhorší kniha, co jsem poslední roky četl. James Franco je vtipnej na kameře, ale psát umí podstatně hůř, než jakýkoliv osmák nebo sedmák. Nicméně, abysme to shrnuli:
Palo Alto rovná se GUMMO + KEN PARK + EGO JAMESE FRANCA + EMO
Takže tu máme iks dementních děcek, co jen kouří trávu, jezdí autem a navzájem se všichni dobrovolně nebo nedobrovolně oprcávaj. Většinou to vypadá nějak takto:
Jsem na hovna. Pojedu oprcat Alici. Chvilku jsem si četl Faulknera a pak jsem se víc opil. Přišel Peter, je to kokot. Všichni jsou kokot. Vzal jsem auto, že jedu teda oprcat tu Alici. Vlasy mi vlály jako pytel od brambor. Palo Alto. Naboural jsem. Někoho jsem zabil. Tak jedu domů. Život je boj. Alici jsem už nikdy neviděl. Stala se z ní štětka a zemřela.
Imbecilita povídek je nepřekonatelná, především tedy když se Franco pustí do velkých témat, třeba rasismus během hodiny historie. LOL, v ten moment jsem nemohl uvěřit tomu, že tu knihu napsal někdo starší 13 let. Věku tu navíc odpovídají i přirovnání, kvůli kterým jsem knihu hltal a nemohl se odtrhnout. Tak třeba seriózně myšleno:
“The lady cop looked as hard as Mt. Rushmore.”
"The skin on his stomach was as white as the inside of a radish."
"Mr. Wilson was this old guy with a beard like a wizard who wore all denim."
HAHHAHAHAHA
BRAVO.
LOL
(objektivně samozřejmě 0/10)
(podle knihy byly natočeny 4!!! filmy. LOL. Franco hrál ve všech, LOL)
Nejlepší nejhorší kniha, co jsem poslední roky četl. James Franco je vtipnej na kameře, ale psát umí podstatně hůř, než jakýkoliv osmák nebo sedmák. Nicméně, abysme to shrnuli:
Palo Alto rovná se GUMMO + KEN PARK + EGO JAMESE FRANCA + EMO
Takže tu máme iks dementních děcek, co jen kouří trávu, jezdí autem a navzájem se všichni dobrovolně nebo nedobrovolně oprcávaj. Většinou to vypadá nějak takto:
Jsem na hovna. Pojedu oprcat Alici. Chvilku jsem si četl Faulknera a pak jsem se víc opil. Přišel Peter, je to kokot. Všichni jsou kokot. Vzal jsem auto, že jedu teda oprcat tu Alici. Vlasy mi vlály jako pytel od brambor. Palo Alto. Naboural jsem. Někoho jsem zabil. Tak jedu domů. Život je boj. Alici jsem už nikdy neviděl. Stala se z ní štětka a zemřela.
Imbecilita povídek je nepřekonatelná, především tedy když se Franco pustí do velkých témat, třeba rasismus během hodiny historie. LOL, v ten moment jsem nemohl uvěřit tomu, že tu knihu napsal někdo starší 13 let. Věku tu navíc odpovídají i přirovnání, kvůli kterým jsem knihu hltal a nemohl se odtrhnout. Tak třeba seriózně myšleno:
“The lady cop looked as hard as Mt. Rushmore.”
"The skin on his stomach was as white as the inside of a radish."
"Mr. Wilson was this old guy with a beard like a wizard who wore all denim."
HAHHAHAHAHA
BRAVO.
LOL
(objektivně samozřejmě 0/10)
(podle knihy byly natočeny 4!!! filmy. LOL. Franco hrál ve všech, LOL)
April 13, 2022
Who knew that James Franco was also a writer? I don't really know much about him besides his role in Spiderman so this will be an unbiased review. This was a pretty average short story collection but I did have a few stand-out favourites: April, Jack-O' and Yosemite (the last one being my favourite).
The writing style is definitely not to everyone's tastes as it reads very much as though it was a teenager telling a story - almost like instructions, in some way. I think it was a genius move for this story as it perfectly encapsulated the bleak and claustrophobic feeling of the collection while these teenagers navigated adolescence in a time when no one was looking out for them. I also like that every story was interlinked in some way as it, but not in an integral way, as it added to the disjointed and desensitised feeling. There are various slurs used and some uncomfortable moments that could've been edited out - these stories are very much a product of when they were written, which was in the 2000s though that doesn't excuse it. I don't really recommend the collection as a whole though as there are much better short stories and writers out there.
Weirdly, it also makes me want to write an essay for fun as I think it captured the teenage experience and isolation fairly well and there are a lot of thoughts I have that I would like to explore outside of a review on here.
The writing style is definitely not to everyone's tastes as it reads very much as though it was a teenager telling a story - almost like instructions, in some way. I think it was a genius move for this story as it perfectly encapsulated the bleak and claustrophobic feeling of the collection while these teenagers navigated adolescence in a time when no one was looking out for them. I also like that every story was interlinked in some way as it, but not in an integral way, as it added to the disjointed and desensitised feeling. There are various slurs used and some uncomfortable moments that could've been edited out - these stories are very much a product of when they were written, which was in the 2000s though that doesn't excuse it. I don't really recommend the collection as a whole though as there are much better short stories and writers out there.
Weirdly, it also makes me want to write an essay for fun as I think it captured the teenage experience and isolation fairly well and there are a lot of thoughts I have that I would like to explore outside of a review on here.
October 22, 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 hardness. I doubt I would have been as aware of its beauty without the backdrop of the previous stories just as I doubt I could have appreciated what Franco was setting up in the first half of the book until reading ‘April’. I sailed through the last half of the book maybe because I knew what I was in for. Also, Franco’s prose opens out and flows. The included Proust quote from “Within a Budding Grove” relating to adolescence is especially poignant. Thank God we only have to endure one adolescence!
June 19, 2021
Dei pazzi hanno cercato di far togliere quella parola da 'Huckleberry Finn' perchè la trovavano offensiva. Idioti armati di buone intenzioni, ha detto il signor Hurston. Ma se ci fossero riusciti, avremmo perso la cognizione di com'erano le cose prima di noi. E se non conosciamo la nostra storia siamo destinati a ripeterla.
July 17, 2012
I picked this up from the dreaded "Popular Library" section of the LA Library, where I go when I am returning a book and am too lazy to go up to the stacks to look for something. I'm left to judge books by their covers, or in this case, by the name of author. Of course every book has some advanced praise for their author by some other authors you haven't heard of. Same here. But I figured if Steve Martin isn't a bad writer (note Steve Martin did not give any advanced praise to Franco, just naming an actor who is a passable writer), maybe James Franco might have something to say.
Half way through, I am convinced James Franco is an idiot. It is obvious that no one was willing to tell him, no, you are not a Renaissance man. You are not smart enough. Not just not smart enough, not sensitive or artistic enough. If there were a Razzies for books, this would win. If he were not a celebrity, this book of short stories would not be published. This book is truly, heartwrenching-ly stupid. Is he doing a Joachim Phoenix and tricking people into thinking he is delusional, when he is purposely awful? No, I don't see it. My God, this makes me want to run to the library right now to return this book. I truly pity anyone who purchased it.
I finished it for the purpose of being a completist. The flaws are many.
1. No character development.
2. Lack of structure.
3. Lack of imagery.
4. Lack of plot.
5. Multiple first person POV sounds the same for each character.
6. Just bad, bad writing. High school kids write better than this.
The only bright side is it is short. There's a reference early on to Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I suspect Franco wanted to write a bunch of short stories that paralleled Fast Times but he just didn't have a single good story to tell.
Half way through, I am convinced James Franco is an idiot. It is obvious that no one was willing to tell him, no, you are not a Renaissance man. You are not smart enough. Not just not smart enough, not sensitive or artistic enough. If there were a Razzies for books, this would win. If he were not a celebrity, this book of short stories would not be published. This book is truly, heartwrenching-ly stupid. Is he doing a Joachim Phoenix and tricking people into thinking he is delusional, when he is purposely awful? No, I don't see it. My God, this makes me want to run to the library right now to return this book. I truly pity anyone who purchased it.
I finished it for the purpose of being a completist. The flaws are many.
1. No character development.
2. Lack of structure.
3. Lack of imagery.
4. Lack of plot.
5. Multiple first person POV sounds the same for each character.
6. Just bad, bad writing. High school kids write better than this.
The only bright side is it is short. There's a reference early on to Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I suspect Franco wanted to write a bunch of short stories that paralleled Fast Times but he just didn't have a single good story to tell.
November 29, 2010
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 direct and to the point. He’s willing to reveal the darkness so many teenagers experience and the anger that bubbles to the surface. Never in his eleven stories do the characters become cliché, they simply sing of honesty.
Even the most straight-laced readers will find themselves connecting to the troublemaking teens that make up PALO ALTO. The moments and emotions are so spot on you’ll want to reach out to the author and thank him for finding a way to represent kids accurately, with the good, the bad and the ugly coming together to develop intriguing, impassioned narratives.
Welcome to the world of literature, Mr. Franco…I for one can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
Reviewed by Amanda Goossen for Lit Fest Magazine
Franco’s writing is simple, not overly convoluted just direct and to the point. He’s willing to reveal the darkness so many teenagers experience and the anger that bubbles to the surface. Never in his eleven stories do the characters become cliché, they simply sing of honesty.
Even the most straight-laced readers will find themselves connecting to the troublemaking teens that make up PALO ALTO. The moments and emotions are so spot on you’ll want to reach out to the author and thank him for finding a way to represent kids accurately, with the good, the bad and the ugly coming together to develop intriguing, impassioned narratives.
Welcome to the world of literature, Mr. Franco…I for one can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
Reviewed by Amanda Goossen for Lit Fest Magazine
May 3, 2011
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.
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.
December 21, 2010
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, right?
Turns out, he does. It took a few stories to become accustomed to his somewhat choppy writing style and get over his crutch of using 1st person narration for each story, but at that point a good bit of continuity shines through. Franco's California teens are typical rebels (they drink, smoke pot, have sex, vandalize, etc.), and many have hearts of gold, even if they lack the ambition to show it to more than themselves. They read Faulkner and appreciate Picasso. They also cross over into each other's stories and some characters narrate multiple times. It all comes together to form a nice little composite novel/short story cycle and presents a successful portrait of people a certain age in a certain community at a certain time.
This go-round, Franco's style works. It's consistent and accomplishes its goal of creating something that feels real. Now, we just have to see where he goes next. Hopefully he will evolve and experiment with different settings and narrative styles. Regardless, Palo Alto will stand as an intriguing debut by a promising author.
Turns out, he does. It took a few stories to become accustomed to his somewhat choppy writing style and get over his crutch of using 1st person narration for each story, but at that point a good bit of continuity shines through. Franco's California teens are typical rebels (they drink, smoke pot, have sex, vandalize, etc.), and many have hearts of gold, even if they lack the ambition to show it to more than themselves. They read Faulkner and appreciate Picasso. They also cross over into each other's stories and some characters narrate multiple times. It all comes together to form a nice little composite novel/short story cycle and presents a successful portrait of people a certain age in a certain community at a certain time.
This go-round, Franco's style works. It's consistent and accomplishes its goal of creating something that feels real. Now, we just have to see where he goes next. Hopefully he will evolve and experiment with different settings and narrative styles. Regardless, Palo Alto will stand as an intriguing debut by a promising author.
September 6, 2011
If you know me, then you probably know I love James Franco. I loved James Franco before it was cool to love James Franco (and certainly before it was not cool to love James Franco). Admittedly, if this book wasn't by James Franco, I probably wouldn't have read it. More importantly, it probably wouldn't have been published. As a writer struggling to get her first book published, I'm one of the first to voice frustration when a celebrity like Franco (or Jewel...) get a book published just because of their name. However, I believe that their fame can also be a curse, since their work gets published without ever getting any "real" feedback, or suffering the many, many rejections that most of us writers are used to. Therefore, their work doesn't get a chance to finish "cooking" before it's thrust before the judgment of the public.
Which brings me to my point: this book reminded me of a portfolio of work from a talented creative writing student with a lot of potential. There were some fresh and resonating images, a smattering of interesting, round characters and some stories that really stayed with me. There were also some cliched characters, some gratuitous (seemingly for shock value) violence and, as other reviewers have stated, definitely some repetition in plot. If James Franco wasn't a celebrity, he probably would have spent a few more years (or decades) working on new material. But, because he is who he is, he published the first collection of stories that he pulled together. Unfortunately, the lack of experience shows in this work.
I still love him though.
Which brings me to my point: this book reminded me of a portfolio of work from a talented creative writing student with a lot of potential. There were some fresh and resonating images, a smattering of interesting, round characters and some stories that really stayed with me. There were also some cliched characters, some gratuitous (seemingly for shock value) violence and, as other reviewers have stated, definitely some repetition in plot. If James Franco wasn't a celebrity, he probably would have spent a few more years (or decades) working on new material. But, because he is who he is, he published the first collection of stories that he pulled together. Unfortunately, the lack of experience shows in this work.
I still love him though.
Want to read
June 17, 2014So the movie just pissed me the fuck off. Do I blame Gia Coppola's directorial debut (I don't want to, I love the Coppolas) or Franco's writing (I don't want to do that either, I don't want to hate Franco)?
Guh, the only way to know for sure is to read the damn book.
(Don't see the movie. I took one for the team, I promise.)
Guh, the only way to know for sure is to read the damn book.
(Don't see the movie. I took one for the team, I promise.)
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