A four-time Academy Award nominee, twice for writing and twice for acting, Ethan Hawke has starred in the films Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites, Gattaca, and Training Day, as well as Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise trilogy and Boyhood. He is the author of “Rules for a Knight,” “The Hottest State,” and “Ash Wednesday.” His new book, “A Bright Ray of Darkness: A novel,” which will be released on Tuesday, February 2, is 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. (amazon, 2021)

“A Bright Ray of Darkness” is Hawke’s first novel in nearly twenty years and is a bracing meditation on fame and celebrity, and the redemptive, healing power of art. It is 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 theater. Read an excerpt here.

The narrator is a young man in torment, disgusted with himself after the collapse of his marriage and still half-hoping for a reconciliation that would allow him to forgive himself and move on. What saves him is theater: in particular, the challenge of performing the role of Hotspur in a production of Henry IV under the leadership of a brilliant director, helmed by one of the most electrifying–and narcissistic–Falstaff’s of all time. Searing and raw, “A Bright Ray of Darkness” is a novel about shame, beauty, and faith as well and the moral power of art.