 First edition cover | |
| Author | James Franco |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Short story |
| Publisher | Scribner's |
Publication date | October 19, 2010 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover,paperback) |
| Pages | 224 |
| ISBN | 978-1439163153 |
Palo Alto is a collection of linkedshort stories by American actor, writer, and directorJames Franco. The collection was published on October 19, 2010, byScribner's. The stories are about teenagers and their experiments with vices and their struggles with their families. The book is named after his hometown ofPalo Alto, California, and is dedicated to many of the writers he worked with atBrooklyn College. Inspired by some of Franco's own teenage memories,[1][2] and memories written and submitted by high school students atPalo Alto Senior High School,[3] the stories describe life in Palo Alto as experienced by a series of teenagers who spend most of their time indulging in driving drunk, using drugs and taking part in unplanned acts of violence. Each passage is told by a young narrator.[4]
The2013 film adaptation of the book stars its author,James Franco, alongsideEmma Roberts,Jack Kilmer, andNat Wolff. The film is written and directed byGia Coppola.[5] The 2015 filmYosemite, written and directed byGabrielle Demeestere and starring Franco, was based on two stories from this book as well. The 2015 filmMemoria, written and directed by Vladimir de Fontenay and Nina Ljeti and again starring Franco, was based in part on this book and in part on Franco's 2013 bookA California Childhood. The 2014 filmKilling Animals, directed by Javier Bosques, Steven Huffaker, Shirley Kim-Ryu, Sarah Kruchowski, Eben Portnoy, and Andrew Wesman, was based on six of the stories from this book.[6]
The book received mixed reviews. TheLos 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."[1]The Guardian said that Franco'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."[7] Writing inThe New York Times, reviewer and fellow authorJoshua Mohr praised Franco for how, in the story "American History", he juxtaposed historical parts with a present-daysocial commentary that "makes you wonder how much we've actually evolved inpost-bellum America."[8]
Publishers Weekly reviewed the collection, stating, "The author fails to find anything remotely insightful to say in these 11 amazingly underwhelming stories."[9]
