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Staff Pick
Hanks’s playful, modern short stories are as heartwarming and mischievous as the actor’s many movies, and equally deserving of praise. Though a typewriter anchors each piece, it’s Hanks’s joyous wanderings from Mars to immigration to celebrity satire that makes this collection so winning. Recommended By Lucinda G., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, USA Today
National Bestseller
A small-town newspaper columnist with old-fashioned views of the modern world. A World War II veteran grappling with his emotional and physical scars. A second-rate actor plunged into sudden stardom and a whirlwind press junket. Four friends traveling to the moon in a rocketship built in the backyard. These are just some of the stories that Tom Hanks captures in his first work of fiction: a collection of shorts that explore — with great affection, humor, and insight — the human condition in all its foibles. The stories are linked by one thing: in each of them, a typewriter plays a part, sometimes minor, sometimes central.
To many, typewriters represent a level of craftsmanship, beauty, and individuality that is harder and harder to find in the modern world. In these stories, Hanks gracefully reaches that typewriter-worthy level. By turns whimsical, witty, and moving, Uncommon Type establishes him as a welcome and wonderful new voice in contemporary fiction.
Review
"Skillfully crafted....Smart and equally heartfelt, this collection is a must-read for fans of the actor and literary lovers alike." Bustle
Review
"The central quality to Tom's writing is a kind of poignant playfulness. It's exactly what you hope from him, except you wish he were sitting in your home, reading it aloud to you, one story at a time." Mindy Kaling
Review
"These stories are a hit....There is life here, and humour, along with evocative moments of reflection on the state of the American dream." Financial Times
Review
"Reading Tom Hanks's Uncommon Type is like finding out that Alice Munro is also the greatest actress of our time." Ann Patchett
Review
"Accomplished and delightful....Terrific....Hanks proves his bona fides as a serious scribe." USA Today
About the Author
Tom Hanks has been an actor, screenwriter, director and, through Playtone, a producer. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. This is his first collection of fiction.