Uncommon Type

Uncommon Type gathers seventeen short stories that range widely in tone and setting, unified only by a typewriter appearing somewhere in each one. Hanks writes with warmth and light humor about ordinary people navigating change — a WWII veteran confronting old wounds, a small-town columnist out of step with modern life, an actor overwhelmed by sudden fame, a group of friends building a homemade rocket.

The collection is more whimsical character study than plot-driven fiction, treating the typewriter itself as a small emblem of craftsmanship and individuality in a increasingly disposable world.