James Franco

A collection of stories about troubled California teens and misfits follows the misadventures of a band of youths who experiment with vice in such tales as "American History" and "I Could Kill Someone."

Stories

Palo Alto

stories

Stephanie Midolo

I know this book has gotten a lot of really bad reviews, but I enjoyed it immensely. I think you have to be accustomed to Franco's style and also be aware of his influences. The stories in this echo those of Jack Kerouac, especially his writings in Lonesome Traveler.

From acclaimed Hollywood actor/director James Franco comes a stunning work of fiction - the coming-of-age of a whole generation.

emmy 

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. These linked stories, stark, vivid, and disturbing, are a compelling portrait of lives on the rough fringes of youth.

Colton Ray

Maui S.

Rifqaiza Pravangesta

Karen E

Erika

Cullen Bounds

Palo Alto is the debut of a powerful new literary voice. Written with an immediacy and sense of place. Palo Alto 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. Franco presents his characters in all their raw humanity, while at the same time providing insight into the teenage mind. In the classic American tradition of story-cycles such as Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, Palo Alto presents a stark, vivid, disturbing, but, above all, compassionate portrait of lives on the rough fringes of youth.

Palo Alto Stories

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