A Bright Ray of Darkness

A Novel

By: Ethan Hawke

Narrated by: Ethan Hawke

Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

The blistering story of a young man making his Broadway debut in Henry IV just as his marriage implodes - a "witty, wise, and heartfelt novel" (Washington Post) about art and love, fame and heartbreak from the acclaimed actor/writer/director.

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 theater, A Bright Ray of Darkness showcases Ethan Hawke's gifts as a novelist as never before.

Hawke's narrator is a young man in torment, disgusted with himself after the collapse of his marriage, still half hoping for a reconciliation that would allow him to forgive himself and move on as he clumsily, and sometimes hilariously, tries to manage the wreckage of his personal life with whiskey and sex. 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, raw, and utterly transfixing, A Bright Ray of Darkness is a novel about shame and beauty and faith, and the moral power of art.

©2021 Ethan Hawke (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Explores the demands of acting and the delusions of manhood with tremendous verve and insight...the work of an author who knows every aspect of the profession from the inside.... 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. He’s written a witty, wise, and heartfelt novel...a deeply hopeful story.... Bravo.” (Ron Charles, The Washington Post)

"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." (The Austin Chronicle)

"[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." (The Christian Science Monitor)

Mesmerizing!

This was an amazing book. If you have a love for Shakespeare, acting, NYC, The catcher in the Rye or even problematic marriage stories this book is for you. It unbelievably satisfying listening to it being read by Ethan Hawke himself. In one word, just mesmerizing.

Great insight into acting Shakespeare on stage

I wanted to read this hoping to get a glimpse of what it would be like acting in Shakespeare production on Broadway. To that end the book fulfilled my expectations. Also Ethan Hawke was a joy to listen to and I image hearing him read is a different experience than reading the novel but I felt the book had real life with his reading. The story left me longing a little and the second half just felt like a bunch of people giving an anonymous actor advice which I found annoying. I wanted more understanding of the protagonist and I didn't really get that like his relationship with his father at the end felt lacking in detail and I wish I had more detail about the marriage itself, which was sparse and left me with more questions. Overall I would recommend it to anyone interested in the experience of acting on stage and the story critic feels minor to the real insight the book offers to art of acting itself.

Brilliant!

I am so happy I discovered this novel! Brilliantly written, gritty in all the right ways, and inspiring, Ethan Hawke’s story is a masterpiece. A sterling example of why fiction matters. This should be a movie!

Excellent

I read Ethan Hawke’s novel The Hottest State years ago and thought, wow this guy can write too. Glad I read and listened to this one. He’s great at male-female sexual dynamics and the deep feelings of connection, love, loss, searching for meaning. Nice parallels drawn between the effort and exhilaration of a stage production and being in a marriage. I also feel connected because I saw Hawke in all 3 parts of Stoppard’s Coast of Utopia in NYC when I could hear how he was struggling with the damage his stage acting was doing to his voice. You can still hear how acting has taken its toll on his voice and you’ll be glad to hear him soldiering on, damage and all.

A bright ray of darkness

Here one can find acting lessons.
Here one can find steamy sex narratives.
Here one can find a psychological counsel to deal with guilt in marriage.
Here one can find imaginations for relationships, for selfishness, for what might be.
Follow William, or is is Ethan, from gritty carnal knowledge, to self-hatred, to freedom, and relate yourself in his journey to find your own redemption.

Ethan bares his soul and exposes wounds—courageously brilliant writing

If you know Ethan’s character “Jesse” in Before Sunset when he is asked if the love story he wrote was about his real life… the same question could be asked in a similar way about if this fiction was loosely based on the period of his life separating from his Hollywood wife.

But this is far from the tabloid nonsense—this is great introspection as his character meanders through life trying to find his way and the characters he meet along that path guide him and enlighten his perspective (though they may appear as enemies, fools, children, comic relief, family, and so on) everyone he meets contains a powerful message. This process reminds me of another one of his movies “Waking Life” where the main character visits various personalities in through the vehicle of dream and each combine to perform an enlightened worldview.

Such great moments in the story that encapsulate the theme like when his son rejoices realizing he doesn’t have a “drinking problem” because “drinking problem” doesn’t mean drinking juice it means alcohol—the main character reflects — “I wish all life’s problems were simple like when you were a child, all just some big misunderstanding.”

Ethan is not only the best actor in Hollywood over the last few decades but he is also a very underrated author—I also enjoyed Ash Wednesday and Hottest State.

Wow

Gifting to everyone. A beautifully written novel. I can’t pinpoint why or where. I just love it.

Hawke's performance is phenomenal

Good book. GREAT narration. Feels like a disservice to call it narration. One of the greatest living actors brings his words to life in this one.

I listed to this cc almost straight through.

Do not start listening to this late at night if you want to get some sleep. I kept listening to this almost straight through because I wanted to find out what would happen next. Finally at 3AM, Ai fell asleep.

Perfection

He writes about what he knows. And he knows it remarkably well. He always has been more than an actor. I hope he keeps writing novels.