Ethan Hawke is a true writer and his duality as an artist is skilfully reflected in A Bright Ray of Darkness . Hawke circles, descends, and crawls into his characters skin. Grimy shadows pass over the footlights, into the bowels of the theatre, where a struggling actor, perhaps mirroring the writer, seeks the vine of redemption, and claws his way into becoming. Bright Ray is a riveting work.' PATTI SMITH Oh. And the amount of advice on life and love and acting. Really. This guy has more Yoda-figures in his life than most of us have Chewbacca-figures on our hardwood floors (rug burn joke).

Ethan Hawke pens a Valentine to theatre in A Bright Ray of Darkness.His new novel is also a prayer for the stage and a reminder of the healing power of performance.” a fine book, full of narrative drive, illuminating information about the power of the stage, and a storyline that goes at quite a pace, but still has much room for humanity, showing that however big the mistakes people make, and however many people know about those mistakes, there is still the chance of redemption, if you look for it. * NB * A thumpingly accomplished novel about art, the heart, the Way of the Actor and scandal in the social media age. Whip smart and dripping with one-liners, A BRIGHT RAY OF DARKNESS is an urbane, uplifting blast of a write-what-you-know novel. 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. He drinks, does drugs, feels sorry for himself, has two kids he loves, feels insecure about his stagework (he's a movie guy), and cheats on his soon-to-be ex-wife. An emotional ode to theatre as medicine for heartbreak, and an interesting meditation on fame. Radio TimesThree woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love. A brilliant insider's account of the joys and terrors of acting, the trials of celebrity, and the secrets of Henry IV. Der Hauptcharakter ist ein Filmstar, der mit Anfang 30 alles zu verlieren scheint: Seine Frau (ein Mega-Star) droht mit Scheidung, er wirkt verloren in einer Theaterproduktion und verliert sich fast selbst in der Dunkelheit. Ich finde die Geschichte lebt vor allem durch die Kulisse und die unzähligen Nebencharakteren, die so lebhaft und menschlich dargestellt wurden. Es gibt keinen Charakter, der in der Geschichte verschwendet wird, und jeder hat seine Zeilen in der Geschichte verdient. Dass die Theaterproduktion und die Proben so detailliert in der Geschichte erfasst wurden, fand ich fantastisch und hat geholfen die Mentalität eines Schauspielers zu verstehen. Ich denke es zeigt sich hier deutlich, dass Ethan Hawke selbst Schauspieler ist.

Inspired by David Copperfield, Kingsolver crafts a 21st-century coming-of-age story set in America’s hard-pressed rural South. This is a really magnificent audiobook narrated by the man himself - truly entertaining and engaging, I loved listening to him, but - and it’s a big but - the book is brimming with toxic masculinity and cringey sex scenes. Every woman in the book is either a sexual conquest or a potential sexual conquest and it’s a bit tiresome. The blistering story of a young man making his Broadway debut in Henry IV just as his marriage implodes—an utterly transfixing book about art and love, fame and heartbreak from the acclaimed actor/writer/director. 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.” A bracing meditation on fame and celebrity, and the redemptive, healing power of art; a portrait of the ravages of disappointment and divorce; a poignant consideration of the rites of fatherhood and manhood; a novel soaked in rage and sex, longing and despair; and a passionate love letter to the world of theatre, A Bright Ray of Darkness showcases Ethan Hawke's gifts as a novelist as never before.

Film star William Harding is fed up with having his personal life examined in public. The protagonist of this novel, the first in five years from Hawke (best known for his acting role in Richard Linklater's Before trilogy), is also disgusted at the ways in which he has allowed his marriage to collapse around him. His debut Broadway role offers him a chance at redemption and turns this bracing book into a considered meditation on the evil of celebrity and the demanding yet restorative power of theatre. New Statesman Hawke’s] writing evokes both the beauty and tawdriness of New York. And he teaches the reader a lot about theater…an engaging book for those who love theater and Shakespeare.” And Ashley Audrain, author of The Push, on the new ways that psychological thriller writers are depicting motherhood.

It is brilliant in parts though, with some superb prose, atmospheric deep dives on theatre acting and Shakespeare and a gripping episode where he has a massive infected boil on his stomach (wtf) excised without anaesthetic. Hawke spends a lot of time delving into the scenes of the protagonist on stage and the rest of the time ruminating over his broken marriage and how to handle his two children. So much of this story sounds autobiographical. What I read online, he takes parts of his life and implants it into the book. I couldn't shake the feeing of what was real and what wasn't..Ethan Hawke, whose acting career has combined celebrity wattage with indie integrity, brings hard-won experience to his latest literary endeavour ... [A] wild ride of a book ... Written with real fire & originality. Not many novels combine scenes of lying semi-conscious by a motel toilet with thoughts on the perfection of the iambic pentameter. Metro