Aaron Hartzler
Author of What We Saw
Works by Aaron Hartzler
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Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- actor
- Agent
- Michael Bourret
- Short biography
- A writer and actor, Aaron’s autobiographical performances have been seen in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York where he received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Off-Off Broadway Performance. He’s performed in plays and musicals on regional stages across the country, and was featured in several TV pilots no one saw. You might have seen him in the very first episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia in the role of “Handsome Guy”–although you may have missed him, too, because at the time, his hair was strangely blond and decidedly not very handsome. Aaron lives in southern California with his boyfriend Nate (who is decidedly very handsome) and their two dogs Charlie and Brahms. (From the author's website: www.aaronhartzler.com)
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Southern California, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Southern California, USA
Members
Reviews
"If it could happen to Stacey, it could happen to any of us."
This is a hard book to read but it's an amazing story that tackles consent & rape-culture. I couldn't read this all in one sitting, but I knew it was important for me to get through. Because it's based on a real story, a real assault. The Steubenville School Rape Case .
We can't avert our eyes, skip these conversations and pretend these "situations" will just fix themselves. We can't support with our silence the mentality of 'boys show more will be boys' or that a short skirt means anything more than just feeling like you look cute. When we continue to pretend this way of thinking isn't out there, we are only setting the stage for another 'Stacey', another Kate, another Ben and another Doone and Deacon. If we talk about it, we can change it. show less
This is a hard book to read but it's an amazing story that tackles consent & rape-culture. I couldn't read this all in one sitting, but I knew it was important for me to get through. Because it's based on a real story, a real assault. The Steubenville School Rape Case .
We can't avert our eyes, skip these conversations and pretend these "situations" will just fix themselves. We can't support with our silence the mentality of 'boys show more will be boys' or that a short skirt means anything more than just feeling like you look cute. When we continue to pretend this way of thinking isn't out there, we are only setting the stage for another 'Stacey', another Kate, another Ben and another Doone and Deacon. If we talk about it, we can change it. show less
I loved this book.
The message it is sending is such an important one and I support it with all of my being, rape is not something acceptable and people shouldn't keep quiet about it just because they think the girl deserved it.
No one deserves to be sexually assaulted, nor harassed for that matter! There is no reason to justify such an act
If a girl is wearing short clothes or is wasted and "throwing herself at you" then just walk the hell away! That is no excuse to commit such a horrid show more thing!
I loved Kate so much because I relate to her so much, I kind of saw myself in her character because just like her I cannot keep calm until I get to the bottom of things and I sure as hell cannot keep quiet about something as horrid as RAPE!
All in all this was such a realistic book, that looked at society the way it truely was, with all it ugly sides that we try so hard to hide and I absolutely loved it show less
The message it is sending is such an important one and I support it with all of my being, rape is not something acceptable and people shouldn't keep quiet about it just because they think the girl deserved it.
No one deserves to be sexually assaulted, nor harassed for that matter! There is no reason to justify such an act
If a girl is wearing short clothes or is wasted and "throwing herself at you" then just walk the hell away! That is no excuse to commit such a horrid show more thing!
I loved Kate so much because I relate to her so much, I kind of saw myself in her character because just like her I cannot keep calm until I get to the bottom of things and I sure as hell cannot keep quiet about something as horrid as RAPE!
All in all this was such a realistic book, that looked at society the way it truely was, with all it ugly sides that we try so hard to hide and I absolutely loved it show less
Rapture practice : a true story about growing up gay in an evangelical family : a memoir by Aaron Hartzler
Apparently I'm in to memoirs about growing up in fundamentalism now. Cool. This one was more on the funny side than Girl at the End of the World, but I am going to stop the comparisons there because the two books do not really share that much ion common in tone, message, or topics.
Aaron Hartzler grew up in Missouri, going to church multiple times a Sunday, attending a Christian school, performing in evangelical plays, and never quite feeling like he fit in. He creates the "perfect son" mask show more and wears it the best he can, hiding his love for secular music, sneaking out to movies, watching tv, even drinking at a friend's. This book is about the soul-crushing responsibility of maintaining discrete personas with various groups of people. It is about hiding yourself so completely that maybe you can bury part of yourself where even you can't find them. And it's about the consequences of the mask falling away. It's about accepting people, loving people, as they are, even when their worldview is different from yours. And it's about giving them the chance to love you back.
Aaron Hartzler is gay. But this book wasn't about that. It was mentioned, but it was not the plot-driver of this book. I think that was one of the things that made this book so good. It managed to tell a story about bring true to yourself and showing the world who you really are, told from the perspective of a gay teen, that was not about being gay. It was certainly about questioning the status quo and how best to deal with parents,but that is a struggle for every teen, not just the gay ones. show less
Aaron Hartzler grew up in Missouri, going to church multiple times a Sunday, attending a Christian school, performing in evangelical plays, and never quite feeling like he fit in. He creates the "perfect son" mask show more and wears it the best he can, hiding his love for secular music, sneaking out to movies, watching tv, even drinking at a friend's. This book is about the soul-crushing responsibility of maintaining discrete personas with various groups of people. It is about hiding yourself so completely that maybe you can bury part of yourself where even you can't find them. And it's about the consequences of the mask falling away. It's about accepting people, loving people, as they are, even when their worldview is different from yours. And it's about giving them the chance to love you back.
Aaron Hartzler is gay. But this book wasn't about that. It was mentioned, but it was not the plot-driver of this book. I think that was one of the things that made this book so good. It managed to tell a story about bring true to yourself and showing the world who you really are, told from the perspective of a gay teen, that was not about being gay. It was certainly about questioning the status quo and how best to deal with parents,but that is a struggle for every teen, not just the gay ones. show less
“Don’t judge a book by its cover. Mom is always saying that, but most of the time, I think that’s exactly what people are asking us to do: Please. Judge me by my cover. Judge me by exactly what I’ve worked so hard to show you.”
Kate Weston has always had her friend Ben looking after her since they were children. Ben is Mr. Perfect— athletic, tall, and handsome. One night, Kate goes to a party and drinks too much. Thankfully, Ben was watching her back and returned her home safe and show more sound. The same can’t be said of fellow student Stacy. Stacy and her mom file a police report and press charges against three students for sexual assault and rape. All three students accused are on the school basketball team, and one is the star player.
The students at school turn on Stacy and call her a liar and attention seeker or blame it on the way she dresses. Everyone was against her because they didn’t want their basketball team to suffer the loss of their star player. While most students and adults in the community have made up their minds about Stacy, Kate has not. Kate tries to befriend Stacy to find the truth.
Kate and Ben's friendship shifts into a romantic relationship. She talks to Ben about what happened to Stacy and Ben says he doesn’t know anything because he had left to take her home that night. Kate pushes because Ben is on the basketball team with the accused boys. She doesn’t want to believe her classmates could be capable of such a horrendous crime, but she can’t find a reason why Stacy would lie.
“Turns out any ordinary place can be made extraordinary by the presence of the right person.”
Kate knows she a Stacy had been taking shots together before she went home. She wonders why someone saved her at the party but not Stacy. Hadn’t anyone seen something? Now there is gossip about a video taken at the party. Kate is determined to get her hands on the video and discover the truth once and for all. But the truth isn’t kind to Kate, and she is left dumbfounded and betrayed.
What We Saw broke my heart and left a searing revelation behind. Situations like this happen every day in which the victim is further victimized and shunned by the community for what has happened to them. They didn’t want it to happen to them any more than you want to believe that others are capable of such behaviors. This book is just so real. Thank you.
The writer did a fantastic job of storytelling and putting the reader in the scene. I was often holding my breath in anticipation as the story pulled me along. I enjoyed the full circle technique Hartzler used by starting and ending the story with a video that correlated with the start and end of a friendship— double duty. I gave the book four stars because I don’t want to read it again. Not because it isn’t good, but because the ride was emotionally taxing and heartbreaking. show less
Kate Weston has always had her friend Ben looking after her since they were children. Ben is Mr. Perfect— athletic, tall, and handsome. One night, Kate goes to a party and drinks too much. Thankfully, Ben was watching her back and returned her home safe and show more sound. The same can’t be said of fellow student Stacy. Stacy and her mom file a police report and press charges against three students for sexual assault and rape. All three students accused are on the school basketball team, and one is the star player.
The students at school turn on Stacy and call her a liar and attention seeker or blame it on the way she dresses. Everyone was against her because they didn’t want their basketball team to suffer the loss of their star player. While most students and adults in the community have made up their minds about Stacy, Kate has not. Kate tries to befriend Stacy to find the truth.
Kate and Ben's friendship shifts into a romantic relationship. She talks to Ben about what happened to Stacy and Ben says he doesn’t know anything because he had left to take her home that night. Kate pushes because Ben is on the basketball team with the accused boys. She doesn’t want to believe her classmates could be capable of such a horrendous crime, but she can’t find a reason why Stacy would lie.
“Turns out any ordinary place can be made extraordinary by the presence of the right person.”
Kate knows she a Stacy had been taking shots together before she went home. She wonders why someone saved her at the party but not Stacy. Hadn’t anyone seen something? Now there is gossip about a video taken at the party. Kate is determined to get her hands on the video and discover the truth once and for all. But the truth isn’t kind to Kate, and she is left dumbfounded and betrayed.
What We Saw broke my heart and left a searing revelation behind. Situations like this happen every day in which the victim is further victimized and shunned by the community for what has happened to them. They didn’t want it to happen to them any more than you want to believe that others are capable of such behaviors. This book is just so real. Thank you.
The writer did a fantastic job of storytelling and putting the reader in the scene. I was often holding my breath in anticipation as the story pulled me along. I enjoyed the full circle technique Hartzler used by starting and ending the story with a video that correlated with the start and end of a friendship— double duty. I gave the book four stars because I don’t want to read it again. Not because it isn’t good, but because the ride was emotionally taxing and heartbreaking. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 4
- Members
- 514
- Popularity
- #48,283
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 33
- ISBNs
- 14