Now it can be told: Calling media outlets in support of the recently announced New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award (the $10,000 prize that, as previously noted on MobyLives, went to Andrew Sean Greer), actor Ethan Hawke was apparently brought up short when New York Daily News gossip columnist Lloyd Grove asked about his own “coolly received” writing. In his Lowdown column (second item), Grove says Hawke, the author of two “non-best-sellers” told him, “John Steinbeck‘s first book wasn’t that good, you know? I don’t think it’s up to us to decide if our things are of quality or not.” As to why he was shilling for the NYPL award, which has invariably gone to writers who received very big advances for books that sold many copies, Hawke explained that with young writers, “It’s hard for them to get support.” He added, “It just seemed like the library should be doing something.” Grove also reports Hawke is “currently beavering away on his third novel.”