There's nothing more exhilarating than falling in love for the first time. And nothing more confusing ...

When William and Sarah meet in a New York bar, it isn't quite love at first sight. He's a young actor, she sings in a band, each is intrigued by the other, though cautious and unsure. He can't stop thinking about her and by the time they meet again, William is obsessed - seduced by her wild black curls and charmed by her misaligned nose. She, in turn, is thrilled by his weird energy and scary intensity. As their delicate dance of love begins. William's work takes them on a trip to Paris - a city made for romance and promises. But on their return to New York, Sarah inexplicably and abruptly walks out of his life. Leaving him to puzzle over two devastating questions: What did he do wrong? And how can he win her back?

In The Hottest State, Ethan Hawke explores the bitter-sweet domain of burning desire and the shocking chill of rejection - with the surest of touches and a disarming honesty, to create a tender story of first love that is sharp, funny and resonates with a raw vitality and truth.

This is a hardback edition of actor Ethan Hawke's debut novel, published in 1997. I bought it mainly because I had a big crush on him at the time. It's a pleasant read but I didn't really engage with the characters.

Giving to TQD as one of five RABCKs to celebrate reaching 100 registered books.

Thanks heaps, Fire-Dragon!

Got this at Tuesday night's meetup.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending this off in a bookbag for the convention. If I can't make it, at least some of my books can!

Happy reading!

Gratefully received, to be released at the convention in October. Thanks from the convention committee.

Picked up at the Melbourne 2007 BookCrossing Convention. When I found out that Ethan Hawke, of Before Sunrise fame, had written novels, I thought I'd probably end up reading them some day. And sure enough here one is! I don't have great expectations that it'll be brilliantly written, but I'm prepared to be pleasantly surprised!

Well, I wasn't pleasantly surprised. The protagonist, a young actor who I can't help thinking is a thinly disguised Hawke, is a whiny and thoughtless bloke who just wants sex. The woman he thinks he loves, and feels deeply wronged by, he never sees clearly - reading too much into her but never understanding her motivations. It was just shallow and whinging. I can't see how it got published - but I guess that's the power of a big star name.

It's been a long time since I read it and, as I think I've said, I didn't find it hugely engaging at the time. But a thought does occur to me that Freesia's analysis of the book being about a "whiny and thoughtless bloke who just wants sex. The woman he thinks he loves, and feels deeply wronged by, he never sees clearly - reading too much into her but never understanding her motivations."

Maybe this is the point? Maybe Hawke was deliberately trying to create a flawed central character? That can be an interesting literary device. I don't know...

RELEASE NOTES:

On the sundial outside the conservatory.

Maybe he was just using it as a literary device, but the whole thing of the protagonist - exactly like Ethan Hawke - being a 26 year old actor living in NYC who goes to Paris for three weeks to make a film (which seems a lot like Before Sunrise) - for me, anyway, was a bit too much writing what he knew. I'd prefer to have had a more balanced portrayal of Sarah, the girl. As it was, it seemed a pretty one-sided read to me, being stuck inside the over-analysed mind of someone immature and irritating.

Honestly, it really wasn't my kind of book - although I appreciated the opportunity to read it - but I've released it now. I hope the next person to find it gets more from it than I did!