FICTION

Uncommon Type

by Tom Hanks
Knopf. Oct. 2017. 416p. ISBN 9781101946152. $26.95; ebk. ISBN 9781101946169. F
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Academy Award winner Hanks gives readers a wide variety of stories in this first collection. His characters run the gamut; old and young, rich and poor, male and female, serious and funny. He writes like someone who has paid attention to humans in their many guises. His subjects include time travel (a trip to 1939), space travel (a trip to the moon and back), and memory travel (a World War II battle). In one story, a teenager accidentally learns about his father's infidelity, while in the next, a young boy meets his mother's boyfriend without understanding who he is. Several pieces feature the same characters, creating a feeling of familiarity. In all 17 stories, typewriters figure as part of the landscape, and 14 photographs of typewriters (by Kevin Twomey) accompany various narratives.
VERDICT Hanks's stories evoke dreams and flights of imagination that everyone has experienced, making the "what ifs" of life tangible. Highly recommended, and not just for the actor's many fans. [See Prepub Alert, 4/10/17.]
Reviewed by Joanna Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Libs., Providence , Oct 15, 2017
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