The kids in it are particularly unrealistic like the author never had a daughter who ended up on Stranger Things or, frankly has ever even listened to children. I was grateful that his wife had a strength and a sense of purpose because at least one character had a shred of self-respect and determination to move forward. If I read one more line about a woman’s “giant heaving breasts”, I may have thrown the book in the bonfire.

It's about an actor (well, duh) performing Shakespeare ( Henry IV) on Broadway as he is coming off a divorce to a big-time pop singer. William Harding is married to a beautiful rock star and has two young children who he loves dearly, but he’s been unfaithful and his infidelity has been outed by the press and publicised across social media. Over and over narcissism and drugs are married to wisdom, or, as in the title, there’s dissonance that makes a bigger truth, and it is hilarious. The actor and director, who made his screen debut at 15, has published several books during his acclaimed Hollywood career, and he recently produced and starred in a spectacular TV adaptation of James McBride’s “The Good Lord Bird.All the women characters were just bodies and their only dimension was wanting to have sex with the main character, married or not, they were willing. A Bright Ray of Darkness” opens during a storm of negative media coverage that erupts when the young heartthrob William Harding is spotted cavorting with a woman — not his rock star wife — in Cape Town, South Africa. Now, some 15 years after all that cosmic embarrassment, Hawke has published a novel titled “A Bright Ray of Darkness.

Do read it because writing like this has given way to a weaker strain of pop-culture and dreadful prose. See our Remarkables Archive for some that are no longer in print, but which we are happy to try to track down. The main character goes through events that Hawke himself experienced (like his messy divorce) and throughout the story, one can't help but deeply feel his sense of inadequacy, his despair but also his subtle growth. It’s not clear whether he still loves his wife but the thought that he will lose his constant contact with his children is hurting him deeply.We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Con una prosa sincera y valiente, no exenta de humor, Hawke revela al lector los entresijos del mundo de la interpretación, donde los oropeles y las limusinas se dan la mano con la ansiedad y el desgarro más devastadores.

Hawke's talent rivals the best, so those that appreciate engaging storytelling would do well to add this to their list! Ich war sehr überrascht, dass Ethan Hawke so gut schreiben kann und eine Geschichte über einen weißen Mann doch überzeugend und passend herausgearbeitet hat. William Harding, celebre attore, trentadue anni, sale alla ribalta del gossip internazionale per avere tradito la moglie, rockstar ancora più famosa di lui. With two Oscar nominations for screenplays and likewise for his acting, it's obvious this was one of Ethan's more personal stories. I'm not sure what it was exactly, because the thought of reading a book about an actor starring in his first broadway play, doing Shakespeare of all things, while in the midst of a third-life crisis, didn't sound super up my alley.I loved the way that Hawke was able to bring the theatre scenes alive – both onstage and offstage – it’s brilliantly done.

There's definitely some male fantasy stuff happening re: the women in this book and there are problems to pick at this -- but also, the relationship particularly between William and the woman playing Lady Percy speaks to a depth of understanding about showmances that people outside of the theater can't ever really comprehend. William Harding, aunque una estrella de Hollywood, es un joven atormentado, disgustado consigo mismo tras el fracaso de su matrimonio, esperando aún una reconciliación que le permita perdonarse, mientras torpemente —y a veces hilarantemente— trata de manejar los restos de su vida personal con whisky y sexo. I could live the rest of my days without reading another woe-is-me, pretentious, downward-spiral novel written by a white, cis, hetero man. Recognizing the elements of his life that were always just puffs of fantasy is an excruciating process — harder than getting stabbed to death eight times a week. But I had never read any of his earlier works, so was pleasantly amazed at just how excellent this book is.When William arrives at his New York hotel, the front desk greets him: “Wow, look who it is, Hester Prynne herself. Ethan Hawke really has got some fuckin balls, writing a novel in 2021 about the plight of the wealthy white man. The only actor in the production not traditionally trained, he is desperate not to appear as a ticket pull for tourists. He is the author of Rules for a Knight, The Hottest State, Ash Wednesday and A Bright Ray of Darkness.