Ethan Hawke & Me: The Before Trilogy: 1 (For What It's Worth) - Softcover

Bertaina, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798985008944

Publisher: Barrelhouse Inc., 2025

Synopsis

When Andrew Bertaina first saw the 1995 Ethan Hawke-Julie Delpy film Before Sunrise-swiping the tape from his sister's bedroom-he was fifteen, painfully shy, and living a sheltered existence in small-town California. The movie cracked something open in him, with its romantic European setting and its charming, intelligent protagonists, who fall in love with each other over the course of a day spent wandering the streets of Vienna. Within the movie's story seemed to lie a promise: that you could truly be known by another person, that a relationship could be a never-ending conversation with someone who was both interested and interesting.

Fast-forward 25 years, and Andrew's teenaged romanticism has been challenged by life's realities, which have included a marriage, a child, a move across the country, a divorce. Meanwhile, the film's central relationship has also been challenged and complicated by two sequels. When Andrew decides to revisit the first film, with a new partner and a bottle of wine-a rare date night for two single parents-he can't help but wonder: Will he still see himself in the movie? And, perhaps more importantly, will she?

About this title

About the Author

Andrew Bertaina is the author of the essay collection The Body Is a Temporary Gathering Place (Autofocus 2024), and the short-story collection One Person Away From You (Moon City Press Award Winner 2021). He lives in the D.C. Metro area and is a lecturer in the English Department at American University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Barrelhouse Inc.
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798985008944
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 120