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 insigh t . 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 .