Uncommon Type: Some Stories
by Hanks, Tom
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10
- 1101946156
- ISBN 13
- 9781101946152
- Seller
-
Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Knopf. Used - Good. . . All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.
Reviews
On Dec 3 2017, CloggieDownunder said:
Uncommon Type: Some Stories is the first print book by American actor, filmmaker and author, Tom Hanks. This is a collection of seventeen quite diverse stories. They vary not only in subject matter, but also format. Many are straight narrative, but there's also a screen play and a series of newspaper columns from the Tri-Cities Daily News/Herald entitled Our Town Today with Hank Fiset. Hank muses on modern news consumption and production compared with that of fifty years ago; he shares his opinion of New York City; he reminisces on significant moments in his life as punctuated by a typewriter bell; he describes a return to analog by a typewriting evangelista.
Typewriters feature heavily: there's a typewriter on the cover; there's an image of a different model of typewriter at the beginning of each chapter; sometimes, a typewriter is an integral part of the story, sometimes it has a minor role, and sometimes it just gets an incidental mention. Many of the characters are appealing and a particular quartet who reappear twice after their initial tale might be well suited to have their own novel (in fact, one of their stories was published in a separate volume in 2014).
The stories are an ideal length for dipping into, but also interesting and different enough to read without pause. Topics are many and mixed: refugees in the present day (or near future) and from a half a century ago; travel by car and plane as well as time travel, space travel and travel down memory lane; ten pin bowling; surfing; motel accommodation; moving house; the public relations junket; making it on the stage; the heavy toll of wartime service.
Hanks gives the reader laughter and romance, loyal friends, wise words and plots that aren't entirely predictable. It's easy to imagine Hanks himself as the narrator in many of these tales: his voice is really there, even in the print version. This is an outstanding debut, and if Hanks ever tires of Hollywood, he can certainly direct his energies to the keyboard (whether a typewriter or electronic), as more tales of this ilk would definitely be welcome. Very enjoyable.
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Details
- Bookseller
- More Than Words Inc. (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- BOS-A-10h-0001326
- Title
- Uncommon Type: Some Stories
- Author
- Hanks, Tom
- Book Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 1101946156
- ISBN 13
- 9781101946152
- Publisher
- Knopf
- Place of Publication
- New York
- This edition first published
- 2017-10
Terms of Sale
More Than Words Inc.
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
More Than Words Inc.
Biblio member since 2016
Waltham, Massachusetts
About More Than Words Inc.
More Than Words empowers youth who are in foster care, court-involved, homeless or out of school to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business. MTW believes that when system-involved youth are challenged with authentic and increasing responsibilities in a business setting, and are given high expectations and a culture of support, they can and will address personal barriers to success, create concrete action plans for their lives, and become contributing members of society. More Than Words began as an online bookselling training program for youth in DCF custody in 2004 and opened its vibrant bookstore on Moody St in Waltham in 2005 and added its Starbucks coffee bar in 2008. MTW replicated its model in the South End of Boston in 2011, thereby doubling the number of youth served annually.