Uncommon Type cover art

Uncommon Type

Some Stories

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Uncommon Type

Written by: Tom Hanks
Narrated by: Tom Hanks, Peter Gerety, Peter Scolari, Cecily Strong, Holland Taylor, Wilmer Valderrama
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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.

 Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Short Stories

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
A foray into the world of audiobooks for someone who still cannot get over her own betrayal to the paperback (when did Kindle reading grow on me so?) can be an uncomfortable experience. A debut work of fiction by one of the best actors the world has seen, narrated by him no less - had to be the safest initiation one can wish for.

And sure, the warm, heartfelt, old-world mediocrity of Mr. Hanks' storytelling is suitably fortified by his Oscar-winning skills. But one cannot ignore the fact that this - at 17 stories and 10 hours of listening, is an arduous experience, one that had me screeching in frustration just as often as I found myself sighing and cynically snorting at the simplicity of his imagined world. Hank Fiset's chronicles - peppered through the outing - are particularly stark examples of how this work fails (to connect with me, at least).

Of course, Steve Wong is Perfect, Alan Bean Plus Four, The Past is Important to Us and Welcome to Mars are streaks of storytelling prowess that justifies the existence of this book in what might in many other cases just be one of the many perks of fame, access and privilege.

The (unabashed) fan in me wants to believe that there is novelist brilliance lurking in there right next to the cerebral section that is responsible for acting genius.

Listen to this for the love of Tom Hanks (and his voice!). Not for continuous listening this - space the stories liberally (back to back morning-evening traffic streaming is a bad idea, especially in Bangalore). Read the paperback at your own risk.

For the love of Tom Hanks

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The joy of having Tom Hanks read his stories to you.... in your kitchen, in your car, when you’re out for a walk.
I often found myself just smiling because of how good it made me feel.
I’m nitpicking here, but I wish the stories had their actual names instead of the chapter numbers.
Other than that, this was an absolute delight.

An absolute delight!

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I had picked this book earlier this year as it was written by Tom Hanks, I wanted to check it out. I read a story or two and then moved on to other books. Few months ago, I bought this on Audible and finished the whole thing.

Tom Hanks reading to book to me was fun, the last story in the audiobook, Stay With Us is really well produced with the music and sound effects. some of the stories are good, some well, just okay. Overall, it was a good listen and I enjoyed it.

Here for Tom Hanks!

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tom hanks makes it special for sure, I did like all the stories, definitely worth a listen!

loved it

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