I've read another of  Ethan Hawke and thought he was good. So when I saw this book in the free box I couldn't just pass it up laughing that an actor actually thinks he can write too(like I could at a Mel Gibson or Bruce Willis novel). Quite contrary, Hawke has a writing voice that is simple, direct, and sometimes ingenious. Check out one of his character's resolutions: "I want to never waste energy degrading someone else. Also, I want to try not see life as a competition. If I can do these two things, as well as keep myself from being checked into an alcoholic rehabilitation center, then I figure I'll be A-OK" (182).

This book reads like a good satisfying meal. It's a romance written from a budding hopeless romantic's perspective. Perfect in length and depth. A good page turner.

Surprisingly good, a fast provocative read about young love in New York. I zipped through it in a couple days. You have to get through the kind of boring first couple of pages where William and Sarah first meet.

William, ein 20-jähriger Schauspieler in New York erlebt mit der spröden Sängerin Sarah seine erste grosse Liebe mit allen Höhen, Tiefen und emotionalen Nöten. Sie möchten sich so gerne lieben die zwei und doch geht alles den Bach runter.

i don't like reading men written by men

Ethan Hawke will break your heart. The Hottest State chronicles one year in the life of young, dashing William Harding: aspiring actor and charming lover. When he first meets Sarah, a girl unlike any he's ever seen, he knows from the beginning that he's a goner. She's beautiful. She's elusive. Every little thing she does strikes William greatly. The passion the two share, the chemistry; it's all so surreal, that even he can't believe it. He knows right then and there, that she is the one, that she's the one that he'll love forever, but little does he realize that though she may be the pursuit of his pleasure, he is just a twenty-year-old fool in love, and by time he's twenty-one, he'll just be a broken-hearted man. The way Hawke captures your interest in enthralling. He makes you become William Harding. I by all means, am not a helpless twenty-year-old boy in love, but throughout reading the book, I really felt like I was. All of William's movements and thoughts, I could relate with. It was so eerie. When William cried, I felt like crying, and when he got psychotic over his breakup with Sarah, I could feel the pain tugging inside of him. There's this one funny scene where he throws furniture around, and it's not funny like "haha!", but funny because, it's a scene where it should have been a turning point. I should have said "Wow, this William is nuts". But I didn't say that. Instead, I found myself cheering him on, because as crazy as he was, the emotion that was seeping throughout all of it, was so legitimate. This novel was by far one of them most entertaining novels I've ever read, and not only because I feel like it's something straight out of my own past, or future, for that matter. Ethan Hawke will make you laugh, and he'll make you love William's story, but in the tragic end, Ethan Hawke will break your heart.

Digget den

This is one of those books that just sits with you. It gets under your skin and inside your thoughts and stays there.

I'd been kind of surprised when I saw Hawke's name on books in the bookstore and had intended to check his writing out, but just never got around to it before now. I'd heard some bad things about his writing and wasn't sure what to think. As I do sooner or later most times in this situation, I looked for myself. After all, Hawke thanks Fred Leebron in the acknowledgements in this one, so I figured there had to be some good here. Having finished, I do have to say that Hawke is a better writer than I'd heard people say. This one isn't going on my all time favorite list or anything, and I think there are some spots here and there that seem a little bit cliché or awkward, but for the most part this is some pretty decent writing. I'm even considering checking out Hawke's other book, if that means anything.

I was impressed by the transparency of a young Hawke's writing ability, allowing nastier parts of his budding romantic life to slip into this quasi autobiography. He would later go on to cheat on worldie Uma Thurman, which he writes about in the sequel of this book, also obviously memoir-like. I've looked up to Hawke majority of my life, thinking of him as a paragon of artistry, and knowing that he was probably once a doomed lover reciting soliloquies and destroying his apartment, troubled and scared, fatherless and bitter, I have a renewed interest in him, peeling back a layer that reveals something so much more interesting -- an adult perspective on a childhood hero.

When I saw this book at the library I picked it up, wondering if this Ethan Hawke was the actor... It was. So, I decided to read the book, just for fun and since I admire him as an actor I wanted to see if he was a terrible writer. Well, guess what, he is all but that. I was surprised about how much I loved this book. His writing is articulate and direct and while it is not difficult to read it is very interesting.
The Hottest State is a book that just completely holds your attention from the beginning until the end. It portrays beautifully what is that crazy, reckless young love. It makes you hope for the couple, makes you laugh, cry and go through the complete emotional range while reading it.
Great read.

When I heard that Ethan Hawke had written a book, I just HAD to have it! Loved it!

The story is about a 20-year-old actor (William) who falls in love with Sarah. Sarah is a upcoming singer and the story takes place in New York. William meets Sarah at a bar and watched her perform where he immediately feel in love. He is a few months away twenty-first birthday and about to act in his first movie. He is so used to getting what he wants that he has never been able to care too deeply for anyone. But that all changes when he meets Sarah and decides to move in with her. Sarah and William went from living in a tenement on the Lower East Side to a flight and hotel room in Paris. The novel explores obsession, heart break, decision making and ultimately, William's uncontrollable breakdown after being rejected by Sarah. William questions his own masculinity as part of this rejection and to stop himself from falling apart falls back on his friends, his divorced parents and his high school sweetheart. If you've seen some of Hawke's films like "Before Midnight" or "tape" then you'll also enjoy his novel. This book was a film before it was made into a novel and was just as successful as the film with a rating of 4.5 stars on the Washington Post. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in drama or coming of age books.