This collection of eighteen diverse short stories amply proves that Tom Hanks can not only deliver witty thought-proving lines, he can also write them. A touching fictional story about death and destruction on the front lines of WW II, a sci-fi trip around the moon on a homemade rocket, the perspectives of a ten year old boy growing up in small-town California in the 60s, the frustrations of a would-be actress in New York, a whirlwind romance between obvious misfits, the mundane existence of unambitious writers, an ace bowling champion, a stowaway arriving in NYC – they are all here and described in deliciously seductive prose. The chapter relating the future time-travel of the super rich back from sometime in the 2030s to the 1939 New York World’s Fair through a ripple in the space-time continuum is perhaps the weirdest, but the portrayal of the excitement and optimism of life in 1939 New York is detailed and memorable.
There is only one uniting feature – even the long script for a movie has a typewriter within the story, hence the title. I gather that Tom Hanks has an extensive collection of antique typewriters.
A surprisingly fun, mostly light read, as good as the author’s portrayal of Forest Gump.
The Passionate Reader 