A Bright Ray of Darkness

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.

William is the star of this vivid drama from Ethan Hawke ... this is ultimately a book about the transcendent value of great art ... it communicates a real power.

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.

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 &amp; originality. Not many novels combine scenes of lying semi-conscious by a motel toilet with thoughts on the perfection of the iambic pentameter.

An emotional ode to theatre as medicine for heartbreak, and an interesting meditation on fame.

Ethan Hawke has got a lot of nerve. But he's also got a lot of talent ... What's most irritating about A Bright Ray of Darkness is that it's really good ... A novel that explores the demands of acting and the delusions of manhood with tremendous verve and insight ... Hawke is a genius at conjuring the hush of the auditorium, the thrill of live actors, the magical sense of a performance moving through time. Amid the endless pandemic lockdown, reading this novel with its spirited scene-by-scene re-enactments is the closest I've gotten to live theatre in 10 months ... I want to be immune to Hawke's charms, but I admit it: He's written a witty, wise and heartfelt novel about a spoiled young man growing up and becoming, haltingly, a better person. A Bright Ray of Darkness is a deeply hopeful story about the possibility of rising above one's narcissism. Bravo.

Hawke blurs the boundaries between past roles and autobiography and brings a world of fame, longing and oblivion into sharp focus.

William Harding is a successful film star whose life is in turmoil. Outed by the press as an adulterer, he is now holed up in a New York hotel, divorcing his popstar wife while preparing to make his Broadway debut in Henry IV. In his first novel for 20 years, Hawke has obeyed the adage 'write what you know', bringing the theatrical world, from first rehearsal to final performance, thrillingly to life.

...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.

This enjoyable literary outing is in the American tradition of writers like Saul Bellow ... The Bellow vibe comes with Harding's active wrestling with his own conscience and it is never a sterile or bloodless reflection as he's a charged-up, sex-driven, cocaine-fuelled, whiskey drinking bloke with chips on his shoulder ... it is Harding's failures as a person that make him real for the reader ... a highly engaging and enjoyable read ... lively and spirited ... As we get on with lockdown after lockdown and a world without plays, gigs, and the community of shared experience this is a novel reminding us to cherish what we are missing.

A rather easier read is Ethan Hawke's A Bright Ray of Darkness: a smart novel about Broadway, acting, marriage, love and fame.

Delightfully, Hawke goes full throttle, conjuring a world of thespian grandiosity, engorged egos, brittle self-doubt and callow celebrity with a bravura performance.

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.

'Riveting work' Patti Smith 
'Vivid . . . it communicates a real power' Sunday Times 
'A wild ride of a book' Metro 
 
Actor William Harding has been caught cheating on his rock star wife and the press have descended upon him. Amid the headlines and worldwide disdain towards him, he takes on the part in Henry IV. He must examine himself, and who he has become, under the brightest of lights and the keenest of eyes. 
 
'A considered meditation on the evil of celebrity and the demanding yet restorative power of theatre' New Statesman 
'An emotional ode to theatre as medicine for heartbreak, and an interesting meditation on fame' Radio Times 
'A witty, wise heartfelt novel' Washington Post

Ethan Hawke

A heartwarming, medieval tale on ethics . . . an easy and endearing read

Witty, wise, and ringing with emotional authenticity, Hawke's words blend pragmatism and romance without ever slipping into sanctimony or self-importance - the effect is powerful, enduring and deeply moving

A guide for living an upright and noble life

Philosophy lovers will enjoy the Eastern and Western philosophical musings, but everyone will enjoy the touching storyline

Hawke's book of wisdom declaring life to be a gift should be pondered

A deliciously digestible read. . . . Read this book. You'll be reminded of just how powerful simple gestures can be when they're fueled by passion and purpose

This book helps to reflect on how you act and what you wish to achieve in life

A letter from a father

'A guide for living an upright and noble life' The New Yorker 
'An easy and endearing read' Publishers Weekly 
 
'Never announce you are a Knight, simply behave as one. You are better than no one, and no one is better than you.' 
 
On the eve of a battle from which he fears he may not return, Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke writes a letter to his children so that he may pass on his-hard won lessons on knighthood. 
 Drawing on philosophy and the great writings of our time, the letter provides instructions on living a life full of adventure, inspiration and, most importantly, love. 
 
Rules for a Knight is a beautiful fable by Ethan Hawke. 
 
'Philosophy lovers will enjoy the Eastern and Western philosophical musings, but everyone will enjoy the touching storyline' Metro

Ethan Hawke

Praise for Rules for a Knight

A heartwarming, medieval tale on ethics . . . an easy and endearing read

Witty, wise, and ringing with emotional authenticity, Hawke's words blend pragmatism and romance without ever slipping into sanctimony or self-importance - the effect is powerful, enduring and deepl ...

A guide for living an upright and noble life

A heartwarming, medieval tale on ethics . . . an easy and endearing read

Witty, wise, and ringing with emotional authenticity, Hawke's words blend pragmatism and romance without ever slipping into sanctimony or self-importance - the effect is powerful, enduring and deepl ...

A guide for living an upright and noble life

A heartwarming, medieval tale on ethics . . . an easy and endearing read

Witty, wise, and ringing with emotional authenticity, Hawke's words blend pragmatism and romance without ever slipping into sanctimony or self-importance - the effect is powerful, enduring and deepl ...

A guide for living an upright and noble life

Books by Ethan Hawke

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