I want to parse a string into a type easily, but I don\'t want to write wrapper code for each type, I just want to be able to do \"1234\".Parse() or the like and have it return
I know this question is four years old, but still you could consider using this:
public static T Parse(this string target)
{
    Type type = typeof(T);
    //In case of a nullable type, use the underlaying type:
    var ReturnType = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(type) ?? type;
    try
    {
        //in case of a nullable type and the input text is null, return the default value (null)
        if (ReturnType != type && target == null)
            return default(T);
        return (T)Convert.ChangeType(target, ReturnType);
    }
    catch
    {
        return default(T);
    }
}