Uncommon Type

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, USA Today • A collection of “first-rate” short stories (The New York Times) that explore—with great affection, humor, and insight—the human condition in all its foibles. 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. 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.

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.

Review :
One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, USA Today “Wonderful.” —NPR “First-rate.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times  “Funny, moving, deftly surprising.” —Carl Hiaasen  “[Hanks] is a delightful storyteller.” —Los Angeles Times “Wise and hilarious.” —Steve Martin “Accomplished and delightful. . . . Terrific. . . . Hanks proves his bona fides as a serious scribe.” —USA Today   “Offers heartfelt charm. . . . Even when Hanks writes about somber subjects . . . he finds a sweet spot.” —NPR   “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 “Delightful. . . . Moving. . . . Filled with warmth, comedy and wisdom, this companionable collection is as appealing as its author.” —BookPage “As charming and as (the descriptor has become unavoidable) all-American as the author himself.” —Time “A collection that showcases [Hanks’s] love of words and typewriters.” —O, The Oprah Magazine “There is often a powerful sense of other lives imagined at a level that goes deeper than writerly research.” —The Guardian “A debut short story collection that’s as engaging it is charming.” —Paste “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 “Skillfully crafted. . . . Smart and equally heartfelt, this collection is a must-read for fans of the actor and literary lovers alike.” —Bustle “Spiked with humor, whimsy and insight. . . . Mr. Hanks creates a strong sense of people, places and possibilities. . . . The short stories in Uncommon Type often explore what might have been, what was before (and after) the divorce, or the move, or the press junket gone awry.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Funny, wise, gloriously inventive and humane. Tom Hanks sees inside people—a wary divorcee, a billionaire trading desire for disaster, a boy witnessing his father’s infidelity, a motley crew shooting for the moon—with such acute empathy and good humour we’d follow him anywhere.” —Anna Funder, author of Stasiland and All That I Am  “Tom Hanks is a natural born storyteller. . . . He belongs to a tradition of American storytellers that includes Mark Twain or O Henry although there is a range of work in Uncommon Type that defies such a catch-all definition. . . . There is an ease in his writing and a pleasure in the reading.” —The Scotland Herald “Creative and funny. . . . Cut[s] right down to the bone of human nature.” —Austin Chronicle  “The stories in Uncommon Type range from the hilarious to the deeply touching. . . . All demonstrate a joy in writing, a pleasure in communicating an intensely American sense of atmosphere, friendship, life and family that is every bit as smart, engaging and humane as the man himself.” —Stephen Fry “Superbly observed. . . . [There is a] variety of voices here, all of them masterfully hewn and cosily embedded.” —Irish Independent “Delightful. . . . Hanks’s prose is impressive, with a strong voice and stylistic flair. . . . Fluent, convincing and confident.” —The Times (London)