Palo Alto : Stories

Now a "provocative" and "impressive" ( Variety ) film from director Gia Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola's granddaughter)—starring Emma Roberts, James Franco, Nat Wolff, and Val Kilmer—the fiction debut from James Franco that Vogue called "compelling and gutsy." James Franco's story collection traces the lives of a 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 with a realistic portrayal of a slave owner during a classroom skit—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 "spare and riveting" ( O, The Oprah Magazine ) stories are a compelling portrait of lives on the rough fringes of youth. Palo Alto is, "a collection of beautifully written stories" ( Kirkus Reviews , starred review) that "capture with perfect pitch the impossible exhilaration, the inevitable downbeatness, and the pure confusion of being an adolescent" ( Elle ). Features a bonus essay by James Franco on Gia Coppola's film adaptation.
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.

Palo Alto I: Halloween Lockheed American history Killing animals Shannon Camp Gangsta Vietnam, part 1 Headless, part 2 Pro bono, 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'.