Straight James / Gay James
by James Franco
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Straight James / Gay James, actor James Franco's new chapbook of poems, explores the facets of his public and private personas. Straight James/Gay James is a poetic bildungsroman--raw, candid, and uninhibited. James Franco writes about life as an actor, sexuality, questions of identity, gender, family, Gucci, Lana Del Rey, James Dean, and Hollywood. His poetic style varies from the imagistic to the prosaic. The chapbook also contains an interview of "Gay James" conducted by "Straight James." show more Yes, Straight James asks the question: Let's get substantial: are you gay or what?-- show lessTags
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Member Reviews
2016 Reading Challenge #15: A book written by a celebrity.
James Franco's negotiations with the publisher:
—I would like to publish my book.
—Can't do. It sucks.
—But I'm James Franco. I'm famous.
—Say no more, 10000 copies.
At least that's how I imagine it went. Because seriously, this is not good.
Straight James/Gay James it's like the diary of a teenager, a rich and oh-so-misunderstood teenager: really bad poetry and lots of egocentric meanderings. And that's after being edited.
Oh, well...
James Franco's negotiations with the publisher:
—I would like to publish my book.
—Can't do. It sucks.
—But I'm James Franco. I'm famous.
—Say no more, 10000 copies.
At least that's how I imagine it went. Because seriously, this is not good.
Straight James/Gay James it's like the diary of a teenager, a rich and oh-so-misunderstood teenager: really bad poetry and lots of egocentric meanderings. And that's after being edited.
"This is a poem about Lana Del Rey.
This is an essay about Lana Del Rey.
Lana has become my friend."
Oh, well...
Straight James / Gay James by James Franco is a chapbook of poetry by the actor and filmmaker. The collection starts with a variety of poems centered on Southern California and Hollywood seemingly trying to channel the spirit of Jim Morrison. Perhaps the centerpiece of the collection is a conversational poem between straight James Franco and gay James Franco. In real life, Franco is ambiguous and private when it comes to his sexuality. This lengthy poem does little to clarify the matter and perhaps does more to obscure the matter. All in all good collection of free verse poetry geared towards the Franco fan. Myself, with little knowledge of the man, was able to maintain interest throughout the short collection.
Except for the three "Brothers" poems, which are decent/bordering on good, the verse in Straight James/Gay James is leaden and the topics inane.
I have long suspected that James Franco needs a full-time keeper; this volume confirms my suspicions.
Received via NetGalley.
I have long suspected that James Franco needs a full-time keeper; this volume confirms my suspicions.
Received via NetGalley.
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38+ Works 787 Members
James Franco was born on April 19, 1978 in Palo Alto, California. He enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles as an English major but dropped out after freshman year to pursue a career as an actor, taking acting lessons with Robert Carnegie at Playhouse West. After 15 months of training, he began auditioning in Los Angeles California show more and got his first break in 1990 after he was cast in the leading role of the television series Freaks and Geeks. His first major film was the romantic comedy Whatever It Takes. He was later cast in the title role of the 2001 TV special James Dean. He received a Golden Globe Award and nominationations for an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002 the superhero film Spider-Man was released and James Franco played Harry Osborn, the son of the villain. Spider-Man was a commercial and critical success. In the same year he was cast in the drama City by the Sea. The following year he co-starred in Robert Altman's The Company. With the success of the first Spider-Man film he was able to reprise the role in the sequel Spider-Man 2 in 2004. The movie was well received by critics. He continues his acting career with roles in films such as the Great Raid, Annapolis, Flyboys and Wicker Man. He is a successful actor, director and screenwriter. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Genres
- Poetry, Music, Fiction and Literature
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- Reviews
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- Languages
- English
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- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
