Uncommon Type is a collection of 17 short stories written by the actor/author Tom Hanks. Just about all the stories include mention of a manual or electric typewriter. Tom Hanks is a collector of typewriters. Each chapter has a picture of a manual typewriter on the chapter title page. The stories vary from broken hearts, the struggles of immigrants, children watching as their parents divorce to a science fiction story about time travel. The story about the time travel to the 1939 World's Fair in New York City was my favorite. What the stories had in common is the characters are good, honest people doing good things. I enjoyed these heartwarming stories. One story takes place on Christmas Eve in 1953. The parents put the kids to bed and set the presents under the tree. Dad drinks the milk and eats the cookies set out for Santa Claus and waits for his annual midnight call from an army buddy. Both served in World War Two. The fellow who calls suffers mentally from the war and lives an unhappy life. The fellow who gets the call, the one with a wife and kids, seems adjusted and happy. After the call he goes to bed and that is when we learn he is missing a leg and most of one hand from his war wounds. These days it's nice to read some warm hearted stories for a change.
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