Graphic: Natalie Peeples
Ethan Hawke is not here to bullshit you. The names and details are changed slightly, but the actor’s new novel,
Henry IV, in which he starred; and his very public separation from Uma Thurman that same year, amid allegations of his infidelity. It’s not a memoir, but it’s hard not to read it as one, even after a note ahead of the title page assures us that this is “a work of fiction and dedicated to a dead dog.”
Advertisement
Hawke’s fictional alter ego is William Harding, an actor who returns to New York after filming a movie in South Africa and discovers that the media is abuzz with the news that he cheated on his wildly famous wife during the trip. The opening scene spells this out in no uncertain terms, with a cab driver berating him for being no different than the “shiny fake” celebrities. A tabloid fixture, he’s embraced only by his