karvanci

Dear God, I love James Franco. Hot damn, what a face on that one. Besides his uncontrollable hunkiness, I'm a great admirer of his acting work, particularly on Freaks and Geeks, Milk and 127 Hours. I also respect him for not only enrolling in an MFA program, but also GRADUATING, unlike many other celebrities who go to Harvard for one semester, then drop out because they remember that they could be making millions of dollars and having hot tub orgies in Malibu. Despite my Francophilia, I will admit that this is not the best book, and it would not have been published if he hadn't been the author. I wouldn't say that it's BAD, but it is clearly the work of a young writer who is still refining his voice and struggling with the development of complex themes. I have no problem with the subject matter of debaucherous teens struggling with issues of identity-- it's a topic with a lot of creative possibilities. Plus, I was a high school teacher for several years, and the portrayal of some teens as reckless and offensive is pretty accurate, like it or not. However, in a book of short stories about a bunch of teens, I would think that there would be a little more dimension. The characters all sort of blurred together, but not in a "I see the connection!" way-- it was more of a "This character is exactly like the last ten characters" way. But I think the book shows he has potential, and I wouldn't be surprised if his future work was of higher quality.

2022-12-15 15:15