A New York Love Story
Written: Apr 01 '01 (Updated Apr 20 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Being young, living in New York, falling in love. That's the story.
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: Impressive writing debut by Ethan Hawke.
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| AlexG's Full Review: Ethan Hawke - The Hottest State: A Novel |
Every time I hear about an artist (an actor or a singer) writing a book I greet the news with a grimace full of skepticism, disgust and pity for people who are actually going to spend money buying this piece of literature. Some examples? Kathy Lee Gifford, Jewel, and my personal favorite, Britney Spears. Now I’m getting emotional. In fact, I feel a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a topic. Rhode Island is neither a road nor an island. Discuss… There. I feel better now.
American public knows Ethan Hawke as an actor. Gattaca (with Uma Thurman), Before Sunrise (with Julie Delpy), Great Expectations (with Gwyneth Paltrow) to name a few movies where he starred in the main role. Few people know Ethan Hawke as a writer. Until recently I had no idea that Ethan Hawke had published a novel. I’d like to give credit to “Nathanael73,” whose Epinions review of the book led me to an unexpected trip to Barnes & Noble.
The Hottest State is a refreshing novel about growing up in New York, falling in love, staying in a relationship, and having one’s heart broken by unrequited love. The book is written in plain language, but without all the clichés that always seem to be abundant when it comes to love stories, and Ethan doesn’t waste time to get right to the point. In fact, I knew I was going to love that book after I read the first two paragraphs. Here is the second paragraph—simple, yet intriguing, and I bet many people can somewhat relate to it in one way or another.
“I met Sarah in a bar, the Bitter End. It was August fifteenth. Looking back on it, I’d like to say that it was love at first sight, but in truth I think she was just an intriguing contrast to the two women I was dating at the time. One woman’s name is so embarrassing that I’ll not mention it here to save myself any credibility I might have. The other girl just plain annoyed me. I kept dating her because she had this strange power of making me feel like leaving her would be a monumental personal failure on my part (‘I know you,’ she would say).”
The name of the bar where William (an aspiring actor just short of his twenty-first birthday) meets Sarah (an aspiring singer who had just arrived to New York from Seattle) is ironically called the Bitter End. And the readers know from the beginning that things will not work out in the end for William and Sarah. Nevertheless, the readers are still drawn to the story that unfolds in this 200-page book. It is a tough challenge to write a captivating story when the readers know the ending beforehand. Ethan Hawke does an excellent job.
By the way, the Bitter End is a real bar in New York, located in Greenwich Village on Bleecker Street. I have been there a few times myself.
The Hottest State is a love story. But it’s not a Hollywood love story. It’s a New York love story. I’ll let you interpret the difference. But the latter, in my opinion, besides having much closer resemblance to reality, has a layer of uniqueness that makes it so refreshing. With this impressive writing debut Ethan Hawke proves that he is not only a talented actor but also a talented novelist.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
AlexG
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 130
Trusted by: 237 members
About Me:
Alex has a voracious appetite for travel. Travel hasn't satisfied an appetite. It's created one.
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