Yes, that Tom Hanks -- the actor and all-around nice guy.
I once heard Hanks on a radio show, and I was surprised at just how funny he was. When I mentioned this to people, I was told, "Well, yeah. Who didn't know that?"
But it seems everyone knows that, too. After all, he's written several screenplays, including, That Thing You Do! This, however, is his first collection of short stories, and it's a doozy.
It's funny, moving, and surprising. Its writing is sparse and simple; its stories short and easy, and its theme intriguing. All the tales, somehow, encompass the idea of typewriting or typewriters, in all their uncluttered yet intricate glory. Why? Who knows?
"Typewriters must be used," says one character. "Like a boat must sail. An airplane has to fly. What good is a piano you never play? It gathers dust and there is no music in your life."
And here is the music Hanks brought into my life in this collection: A story of two friends falling in and out of love. A bizarre yet entirely believable tale of four friends blasting off to the moon and back in a homemade spaceship. Several newspaper articles from a grumpy old small-town columnist. A timely narrative about an immigrant coming to America.
All good. All well told.
