Interview

A conversation with Tom Hanks, author of Uncommon Type

Typewriters are in each of your stories. When did you get your ?rst?

In the summer of 1978 I traded in my worthless 1970s typewriter for a Hermes 2000 made in the 1950s. I adapted my experience into the story "These Are the Meditations of My Heart."

What, for you, is the difference between sitting at a typewriter to write and sitting at a computer to write?

A typewriter is for musing. And letters. A computer is for work. And documents.

When did you first start writing?

I've been writing on the record, meaning for pay, attaching my name to a project, and getting a wealth of criticism around the office, since the screenplay for That Thing You Do! in 1995.

What is one book you wish you had written? Why?

Manchester's The Glory and the Dream, as he captured the spine of our modern history from the Bonus March to Vietnam in all its blemishes, hubris, and humanity.

Is there a line in your own book that you're most proud of having written?

I'm very proud of the idiocy and authenticity of this section from "A Junket in the City of Light":
14:50 – 15:00 – Radio interview with TSR-1
15:05 – 15:15 – Radio interview with RTF-3
15:20 – 15:30 – Radio interview with FRT-2...