Uncommon Type cover art

Uncommon Type

Some Stories

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About this listen

Read by two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks. A collection of seventeen wonderful short stories showing that Tom Hanks is as talented a writer as he is an actor.

A gentle Eastern European immigrant arrives in New York City after his family and his life have been torn apart by his country's civil war. A man who loves to bowl rolls a perfect game - and then another and then another and then many more in a row until he winds up ESPN's newest celebrity, and he must decide if the combination of perfection and celebrity has ruined the thing he loves. An eccentric billionaire and his faithful executive assistant venture into America looking for acquisitions and discover a down and out motel, romance and a bit of real life. These are just some of the tales Tom Hanks tells in this first collection of his short stories. They are surprising, intelligent, heart-warming, and, for the millions and millions of Tom Hanks fans, an absolute must-have.

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Critic reviews

Mr. Hanks turns out to be as authentically genuine a Writer with a capital W as ever touched a typewriter key. The stories in Uncommon Type range from the hilarious to the deeply touching. They move in period, location and manner, but 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. All with that extra quality of keenly observant and sympathetic intelligence that has always set Tom Hanks apart. I blink, bubble and boggle in amazed admiration. (Stephen Fry)
Rich range of subject matter and emotions.
All stars
Most relevant
Just what I needed for a long car journey where my mind tends to wander. The format of short stories worked perfectly and with Tom narrating it was like he was in the car with me. I’m tempted to go out now to buy a typewriter after them being a regular character in the stories. All in all just really pleasant. Will it grip you and keep you up all night unable to stop listening? Probably not. But is it an enjoyable listen rich with different characters and situations? Most definitely

Perfect

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Mr. Hanks writes beautifully and reads even better. But then he deserves to be an Oscar winning actor...and writer too!

who knew?

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This book read by the author made me happy. I loved more stories than others but each one engaged me some of them I wanted there to becmore which I guess is what short stories should do. Clever writing and listening to tom hanks reading something he obviously loves can only bring a happy feeling

Happy and clever

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I really struggled with these short stories and couldn't finish them. An interesting concept and well written but simply not absorbing enough to get me through to the end!

An interesting idea

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I saw this advertised on facebook and, as I love Tom Hank's voice, snapped it up straight away. The stories are wonderful and the only negative is that some really should be made into full length novels. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Tom will oblige!

All you hope from Tom Hanks and more!

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