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Palo Alto: Stories Hardcover – October 19, 2010
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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.
- Print length208 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherScribner
- Publication dateOctober 19, 2010
- Dimensions5.75 x 1 x 8.75 inches
- ISBN-101439163146
- ISBN-13978-1439163146
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"James Franco's stories are raw, unsettling and delectable. Each articulates a very American yearning within a dystopic suburban landscape of shifting sexuality, class and race. They are both really scary and fun to read.”--Darcey Steinke, author of Easter Everywhere
"Franco's talent is unmistakable, his ambition profound. He has taken the twin subjects of suburban Palo Alto and American adolescence and made them as scary and true as they must be. This is a book to be inhaled more than once, with delight and admiration, with unease and pure enjoyment. As a writer, he's here to stay."—Gary Shteyngart, author of Absurdistan and Super Sad True Love Story
“James Franco’s chilling stories seem too true for comfort. The characters in Palo Alto navigate off a moral compass so smashed they bruise everything they touch. Franco’s intense artistry swarms all over this gripping book. Think Bret Easton Ellis, Dennis Cooper, Kathy Acker. Or better yet, just think James Franco.”—Ben Marcus, author of Notable American Women
“James Franco is a writer of skill and sensitivity whose depiction of cruelty and neglect, of amusement and loneliness, of longing and being lost--of the pains and chaos of adolescence--is original and impressive. He manages to depict the numbingly stupid and dangerous behavior of teenagers and make it amazingly amusing then suddenly deeply sad.”--Susan Minot, author of Rapture
“These rough messages torn from the notebook of angry youth just make us want to ask James Franco to say it ain’t so. These angular stories read like dispatches from the edge of civilization: all the young people hurting and denying it, denying connection, denying their hope for anything but tonight, the next thing. James Franco does not blink as he offers us these stories -- and it is hard for us to look away.”—Ron Carlson, author of The Signal
“The stories are raw and funny-sad, and they capture with perfect pitch the impossible exhilaration, the inevitable downbeat-ness, and the pure confusion of being an adolescent.”—Elle
“Spare and riveting… Franco’s ear for juvenile vernacular is like an Ouija board summoning the lost voices of Generation Z.”—O, the Oprah Magazine
“Franco’s stories are impressive: crisp, spare, depressing…. A collection of beautifully written stories.”—Kirkus, starred review
"[Franco] makes the difficult appear simple, which only a good writer can do.”—Booklist
"Compelling and gutsy.”—Meghan O’Grady, Vogue
“Rigorously unsentimental and fabulously dark.”—Michael Cunningham
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Scribner; First Edition ~1st Printing (October 19, 2010)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 208 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1439163146
- ISBN-13 : 978-1439163146
- Item Weight : 10.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.75 x 1 x 8.75 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,032,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #16,723 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- #33,024 in Short Stories (Books)
- #81,818 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
James Franco is an actor, director, screenwriter, and artist. His film appearances include "Milk," "Pineapple Express," the "Spider-Man" trilogy, and upcoming appearances in "Eat, Pray, Love," and "Howl," in which he portrays beat poet Allen Ginsberg. On television, he starred in the critically acclaimed series "Freaks and Geeks." Franco has also written, directed and starred in several short plays, two of which -- "Fool's Gold" and "The Ape" -- he adapted into feature-length films. He also wrote and directed the film "Good Time Max." Franco will be participating in an upcoming gallery show at Deitch Projects in New York, and his writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, McSweeney's, and other publications
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The characters are mostly bored spoiled rich kids who do the sort of things teens have been doing since the drug and sexual revolutions of the 60s and 70s. While some of the stories deal with those subjects in a way that might shock conservative readers, there's a moral edge to them that makes them a bit more palatable.
If you were a fast lane teen you'll no doubt recognize these characters, whatever your generational era. Their only singular characteristic is that they grew up in Palo Alto, where the adults are liberal academics and parental figures are whatever the opposite of helicopter parents is. Undercurrents of racism pop up here and there, most often subliminal, but they do occasionally color the narrative which might trigger snowflake reactions.
As for Palo Alto, this is a book of short stories all centered around Palo Alto high school students in the early 90's. Growing up in a similar town, during a similar time, I personally identified with much of the detail and thoughts. The stories deal with self loathing, sexual frustration, the pain of unrequited teenage love, rape, and guilt. Typical teenage angst, which can be quite serious, especially when accompanied by external trauma and drug use. The stories are interesting, raw and honest. The characters are very believable and each deeply disturbed. Franco captures in literature some of that stomach turning sadness for teenagers that Larry Clark captured so well on films like Kids and Bully.
The writing is extremely well done. I notice some reviews claiming Franco is attempting to write in a Hemingway style, and not pulling it off. I would suggest that he's channeling more Carver, especially since the book contains short narratives centered around a select group. If Franco falls short on anything in style, it may be when you feel an attempt at Ginsburg that comes on a bit strong. This happens maybe twice.
This would've made a better screenplay, though. In a visual medium, it would've been slightly surreal, ala Sofia Coppola. But in the written word, something doesn't quite jive. Overall, though, it wasn't bad. A couple stories were pretty good.
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Reviewed in Mexico on January 23, 2024