But you don’t need a theater background to enjoy this first-person tale of a self-involved drug-addled film actor who’s destroyed his marriage by cheating and, in the throes of anxiety and self-pity, is making his Broadway debut in a production of Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2. If I read one more line about a woman’s “giant heaving breasts”, I may have thrown the book in the bonfire. Like guy is ridiculously famous, guy gets girl(s) -- all of them -- guy feels sorry for himself while he struggles with fortune's whims (love-hate relationship with fame, struggles with domestic life, mostly), and guy talks about how rough it is to be roguishly handsome and 180 pounds of muscle. Shaping the entire novel around this production provides a frame that literally dramatizes the themes of the story, propelling it forward even while William wallows in self-pity. 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.

A Bright Ray of Darkness, is an unhinged story of a famous actor married to a rock star at the cusp of divorce.

Fortunately, the play is also an opportunity to climb out of himself and be someone else at the very moment he really needs that. Actor William Harding has been caught cheating on his rock star wife and the press have descended upon him. Now, I'm smart enough to know that blind pursuit of these kinds of shenanigans doesn't lead you to any kind of authentic, substantive, enlightened existence. g. Dad) who've barely been mentioned suddenly get dropped into the narrative so they can eat up 20-30 pp. This is one of the best pieces of writing I’ve ever read to convey the art of pretending to be somebody else in a made-up story in front of hundreds of people who, in the best case, suspend their belief that you are really a regular schlub.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. 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. 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. It reminded me of Alec Baldwin’s furious rant in the film version of Mamet’s play Glengarry Glen Ross.Likewise, his Lady Percy was the estimable Audra McDonald, and she doesn't seem to fit her fictional counterpart here also. The one movie star amid a cast of celebrated stage actors, William is intimidated by the legitimate talent around him and determined not to stick out as dopey eye-candy for Broadway tourists. It is detailed in its portrayal of theatre life, with a production of Shakespeare’s Henry Iv plays firming the back ground to the lead characters journey. I heard a great radio interview with Ethan Hawke last year around the time this book was published and made a mental note at the time to give the book a go. Do read it because writing like this has given way to a weaker strain of pop-culture and dreadful prose.

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. 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.Toward the end, the protagonist is witness to other's stories and life philosophies that shed light on how he might handle his personal dilemma. o. protagonist, bad boy film actor William Harding is making his Broadway debut as Hotspur - and Hawke himself essayed the role in an acclaimed production at Lincoln Center at the same age. This is an honest to god page turner that benefits from Hawke's insider knowledge of what goes into putting on a major production, and contains some wise and world-weary contemplations on both the profession and being human in general, My minor quibble is that such philosophizing, especially in the final section, gets a might ponderous at times, and I would have liked much more on the rehearsal period - as it is, the book jumps from first rehearsal to opening preview, and since it is a short novel (199 pages), could well have been padded out with details on that missing period. Hawke rodea, desciende y se mete en la piel de sus personajes, adentrándose en las entrañas del teatro, donde un actor en apuros, tal vez reflejando al propio escritor, busca la vid de la redención y se abre camino para convertirse.

Before his marriage publicly exploded, he’d signed on to play Hotspur in a lavish production of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV.Hawke genuinely has something to say, and clearly cares about the novel as an art form and gets better each time out. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance. And I only remember two actors from that movie -- Robin Williams as the teacher standing on the desk and the kid who ultimately offs himself at the end (tall, thin, dark haired, and most certainly not Ethan Hawke). Mentre William/Ethan cerca di sopravvivere al repentino naufragio del suo matrimonio aggrappato all’amore per i suoi due bambini, a Broadway va in scena l’Enrico IV di Shakespeare dove lui recita la parte del ribelle Hotspur.