What is a James Franco? Part time actor, writer, college student, social media skeptic, meta incarnation of his very self, Australian Classifications board slammer, yolo-ing master (see tenuously related, obscure image above) film critic and sexually ambiguous squinter with mean friends, James Franco is either a genius, or just a restless, genre-hopping dude. Either way: respect.
After penning his second book, Actors Anonymous (the first being the dubiously received short story collection Palo Alto, which will soon be given the Roman Coppola treatment in its film adaptation) James Franco has revealed his top 6 favourite books to The Week. Exactly as you expected it’s a veritable wank fest of things you either haven’t really heard of (Jesus’ Son) have been meaning to read but seem too daunting (House of Leaves) a biography behind the book that you’d otherwise expect to feature on the list (Salinger) and a slightly-off kilter choice from Cormac McCarthy (you’d expect No Country For Old Men, he chose Blood Meridian).
Nice one, Franco.
Illustrating the list below is the most Franco-esque image I have ever seen. Falling asleep, listening to music, reading a book and being surrounded by kittens, this is James Franco’s actual life. Read Franco’s accompanying notes/justifications for his choices here.
James Franco’s 6 Favourite Books
1. Reality Hunger by David Shields
2. This Is Not A Novel by David Markson
3. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
4. Salinger by David Shields and Shane Salerno
5. Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson
6. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Via The Week.
Title image by Chris Weeks via Getty.
