Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks writes about characters that he would love to play in the movie had they been written. This collection of stories holds a myriad of emotions, settings and time periods (yes he has one time-travel piece) with two common threads - the typewriter and uncommonly normal men and women.
You love the characters because you have something in common with all of them - some win, some lose, some heroic and some timid but they are all borne of the human existence and go largely unnoticed. You cannot help but see yourself in these vignettes. Hank's charm and wit come through but also his sense of right and wrong and chivalry which is a very uncommon type these days.