Ethan Hawke, the author of two novels, is returning to bookshelves for the first time since 2002.
Rules for a Knight, due out this fall, will cap off a year that has included Hawke’s debut documentary (Seymour: An Introduction) and his fourth Oscar nomination (for Boyhood). Per Hawke’s publisher, Knopf—who shared details of the book exclusively with TIME—Hawke originally wrote Knight, a parable, as a gift to his four children. The publisher’s synopsis further reads:
“A knight, fearing he may not return from battle, writes a letter to his children in which he tries to leave a record of all he knows. He lays out the truth of the world as he sees it in a series of ruminations on solitude, humility, forgiveness, honesty, courage, grace, pride, patience, generosity, authenticity, and love. He presents an honest and joyful accounting of what the measure of our lives should be.”
In a recent interview with TIME, Hawke spoke about his evolution as an artist. “When I was young, I just had a tremendous amount of—joy is one word, hubris is another. I was just so excited to be a part of of anything creative,” he said. “‘I wrote 10 pages. Look! You should read it.’ And now as you get older, you’re like, ‘Okay, wait. There’s a lot of things you should read before I’ll waste your time with [my work].'”
That concern has evidently been overcome with a story that’s intended to speak to young people, and that’s explicitly intended as advice: Hawke’s publisher compares the book to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” and Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift From the Sea. Like his character in Boyhood, Hawke, writing for his kids, is growing up.
After all, as the book instructs its reader: “A great knight uses his power to empower others.”
- What We Know So Far About the Deadly Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
- Beyoncé's Album of the Year Snub Fits Into the Grammys' Long History of Overlooking Black Women
- How the U.S. Shot Down the Alleged Chinese Spy Balloon
- Effective Altruism Has a Toxic Culture of Sexual Harassment and Abuse, Women Say
- Inside Bolsonaro's Surreal New Life as a Florida Man—and MAGA Darling
- 'Return to Office' Plans Spell Trouble for Working Moms
- 8 Ways to Read More Books—and Why You Should
- Why Aren't Movies Sexy Anymore?
- How Logan Paul's Crypto Empire Fell Apart
