Review of Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks

Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I would give this a 3 and a half, if halves were allowed. But it's not quite a four star for me personally.

I am a huge fan of Tom Hanks the actor, so I was curious about Tom Hanks the writer, hence I gave it a read. And his fame has indeed been what has allowed this book to garner such success and become so well read. I don't believe it would attract much attention from publishers otherwise.

If you like light, short stories, that don't really have a lot to say and are just nice anecdotes about American life, then this is the book for you. The stories are a little 'beige' in my humble opinion, and many are forgettable.

The writing itself is good: it flows, it has its own style, there is a lot to build on. But I do believe editors have indulged Tom because of who he is. There are pieces that really could do with being reworked and tightened up, and characters developed better. But maybe that's my inner editor talking (after all it is my job).

I did enjoy many of the stories: Christmas Eve, A Month on Green Street, The Past is Important to Us (a great little sci-fi), Go See Costas, and Steve Wong is Perfect. The best appeared at the beginning and the end, the middle stories seemed to fade. I was always waiting for something to actually happen and nothing ever really did in many of the stories.

Some people thought it was going to be about typewriters, but the only connection is that one is mentioned in every tale. It didn't matter to me. It neither added or detracted from it.

I'd recommend it for light reading if you're interested in reading it, but really it isn't one I would shout about.

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