TOM HANKS, an author?

The answer is most decidedly YES! Because it was in large print, and because it peaked my curiosity as to how good (or bad) he was at writing, I checked out Tom Hank’s (Yes, that Tom Hanks) 2017 collection of short stories, Uncommon Type: Some Stories.  I didn’t intend to read all the stories, but I was captivated, both by his “gimmick” of having a typewriter show up somewhere in each story, and as I read on, by his fine writing style. There was everything from Time Travel to farewell editorials from newspapermen. Something to please everyone.  That was the amazing part of these stories: the versatility. Tom Hanks must have had fun helping put this book format together, and the stories themselves, every single one of them, were intriguing and “good reading.”

Some were long, some short. Some were humorous, others pensive and deep. All were clever, sometimes of O.Henry quality. I couldn’t pick a favorite if I were forced to. I liked them all. I knew Tom Hanks was a fine actor, and thus, it followed that he was a creative man, but this writing proves just how creative he is. One critic on the cover describes him as a “new voice in contemporary fiction.” I would have to agree, IF he has more than this collection of stories “in him.” I would love to see him attempt a novel or a play, or a memoir–then I would label him a contemporary voice in good fiction.  Hanks certainly is a master of the short story.

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