James Franco

This book has to be a joke. This is a terrible, terrible book.

Two scenarios

A yes-man employee of James Franco had to have told James Franco that he is perfect and would be a great writer and James Franco being a narcissist, decided to go forth with writing a collection of short stories. OR James Franco is playing a joke on everyone and seeing how much people will praise his shitty writing just because he's James Franco.

He writes worse than how I wrote when I was 7. It's embarrassing and frankly I'm embarrassed I even gave this book a go (read to page 50. I would have stopped earlier but I have a rule where I have to read up to page 50 before I declare a book worthless). So let my horrible mistake be a lesson to you all.

I leave with an exact quote from Palo Alto,

"I guess I just wanted to get this octopus of bodies out of the car as soon as possible, but it was also more fun to drive faster, as if we were really having a crazy adventure."… (mehr)

I know, I should totally bag on this collection of stories because they are written by a goofy and famous actor. I personally have no opinion of James Franco, either way. I mean, I thought he was great in Freaks and Geeks back in the early 00's but none of his movies have really done anything for me. Going into this book, I was completely ambivalent.

But, I mean, I should be snarky and take ol' Mr. Franco down a peg or two, right? That's kind of a problem when the stories in this books are actually pretty decent. None of them reach anywhere close to Fitzgerald but who says that everyone needs to aspire to be someone else? These are just simple stories that intertwine together about a dude and his friends in California as they party, drink, fuck, kill things, destroy property, and wonder why life is the way it is. For that, I give it three stars.

"Halloween" opens up the book and it's about a drunk-driver who possibly kills a woman, but does not stop to find out. "Lockheed" is about rivalries coming to a head at a teenage party. "American History" is about mistaken racism. "Killing Animals" is self descriptive and "Emily" is written from the perspective of a young girl head over heels for a sleazy dude. "Camp" is a nostalgic trip about summer and summer camp and crushes and girls. "Chinatown" ends the first part of the book and is a tragic, sometimes surreal tale about a girl who has sex with any and everyone. "April" is simply about unrequited love and "Tar Baby" is about being friends with someone you can't stand, while "I Could Kill Someone" stands as the most disappointing of all the stories; it builds to an unresolved climax that made it feel like an incomplete work. The last story, "Jack-O'" is a throwaway and ends the book on a whimper-not-bang.

It'd be pretty cool to see another offering from the young actor.… (mehr)