Tom Hanks is coming out with his first book — and it's all about typewriters

Actor Tom Hanks will make his debut as an author on Oct. 24. Publishing company Alfred A. Knopf first announced the book in 2014 — shortly after Hanks published a story in The New Yorker — but it wasn't until Tuesday that the short-story collection's title was revealed.
Uncommon Type: Some Stories will revolve around typewriters, and each of its 17 stories will involve the increasingly obsolete machines that Hanks collects. The Hollywood Reporter noted the book ranges from stories "about an immigrant just arriving in New York City after leaving his civil war-torn country to a man who bowls a perfect game to an eccentric billionaire."
Hanks has been working on the collection since 2015, and he said in a statement he's taken his work with him as he's "made movies in New York, Berlin, Budapest, and Atlanta." "I wrote in hotels during press tours. I wrote on vacation. I wrote on planes, at home, and in the office," Hanks said. "When I could actually make a schedule, and keep to it, I wrote in the mornings from nine to one."
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Alfred A. Knopf's editor-in-chief Sonny Mehta praised the book as an "accomplished debut." "I am thrilled by the narrative range on display in this collection, and by the humor and humanity Tom brings to his work," Mehta said.
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