"Palo Alto" by James Franco

Shout out to Nerea for the coolest mug

In a nutshell

From a freshman trying to impress a girl to a high school coach getting together with a student or a young boy in possession of a gun, Palo Alto follows the (mis)adventures and life experiences of an extended group of troubled teenagers as they "experiment with vices of all kinds and struggle with their families and one another". 

Thoughts (2/5*)

As somebody who loves James Franco, I was really excited when I got his book. Plus, stories about troubled teenagers? Sounds good to me. Unfortunately, it's not what I was expecting as the stories (except for maybe one or two) are all about the same thing: teens getting high/drunk, partying and overall swearing an awful lot. I don't know how life is like in Palo Alto, but I would guess some teenagers can be troubled in other ways than driving into a wall because they're wasted. After reading two of the short stories, there was nothing surprising or any shocking twist in any of them.

The main problem is that it's hard to tell these stories apart. He uses different narrators but they all sound the same to me. I'm not saying Franco is a bad writer because I really don't think he is - in fact there's a story that stood out to me, April in Three Parts, which was the one I enjoyed the most. I want to think it's because it's the only one that's got a solid plot, where his characters actually do things and things happen to them and there's a story to tell. That's what makes me believe he's got the potential to write a good, maybe great, novel; where both his characters and their stories can be properly developed.

I read Palo Alto a couple of months ago but I thought it'd be a good idea to post my thoughts on it now that the trailer for the upcoming film based on the book, starring Emma Roberts and James Franco himself, has just come out. You can watch it here.

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 Tania x