Play Book Tag discussion

I was pleasantly surprised by this collection of short stories. As typically happens, I liked some more than others, but I was impressed by the variety of topics he chose including some historical topics. They don’t read like many literary short story collections. They are more in line with Tom Hank’s own personality. He writes about friendship and family, and the fine is sometimes sentimental or idealistic. I really enjoyed the story about the diverse neighborhood. It might seem hokey to students in a graduate writing program, but it reflects how I’ve been feeling about my own neighborhood lately. One of the stories reminded me of the Veteran’s writing course my brother took. Some of the stories are connected, I disliked one so I skipped over a related story, but I’ll go back to reread the connected stories again. They might have more meaning together. The author’s audio narration might change the tone of the stories. He uses a light touch that could reduce the emotional impact, or keep a story from sounding too earnest or sentimental.