A bright ray of darkness

The first novel in nearly twenty years from the acclaimed actor/writer/director is a book about art and love, fame and heartbreak. 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--Falstaffs of all time. A novel about shame and beauty and faith, and the moral power of art.