"Tokyo is as complex as a long novel, as confusing as an avant-garde film and, sometimes, as strikingly beautiful as calligraphy."

Part memoir, part travelogue, and part culture guide, Beauty and Chaos taps into the daily mysteries and poignant moments that make living in Tokyo a baffling delight. After two-plus decades writing, teaching, and living in Tokyo, American novelist and literature professor, Michael Pronko, reveals what's beneath the gleaming, puzzling exteriors of the biggest city in the world.

Whether contemplating Tokyo's bonsai houses, pachinko parlors, chopstick ballet, or the perilous habit of running for trains, Pronko explores Tokyo's back alleys and curious interactions to find the city's deeper meanings and daily pleasures.

Tokyo emerges a fascinating city full of chaotic commotion and serene beauty-one of the most amazing, confusing places in the world.

Gold Award eLit Awards for Essays/Creative Non-Fiction

Gold Award Non-Fiction Author's Association

Gold Award First Place Reader's Favorite for Cultural Non-Fiction

Best Nonfiction Books of 2015 Doing Dewey

"A clear-eyed but affectionate portrait of a city that reaches beyond simple stereotypes. An elegantly written, precisely observed portrait of a Japanese city and its culture." Kirkus Reviews

More at: www.michaelpronko.com

About the Author
Pronko, Michael: - Michael Pronko is a Tokyo-based author who writes in three genres-murder, memoir and music. His first mystery, The Last Train, was selected as the winner of the Shelf Unbound Contest for Best Independently Published Book of 2018, and his second novel, The Moving Blade, won the Independent Press Award for Crime Fiction and was named by Kirkus Reviews as one of the best Indie Mysteries and Thrillers of 2018. The third in the series, Tokyo Traffic, was published in 2020. He has written about Japanese culture, art, jazz, society, architecture and politics for Newsweek Japan, The Japan Times, Artscape Japan, as well as other publications. He has appeared on NHK and Nippon Television doing video versions of his essays. He also runs his own website, Jazz in Japan (www.jazzinjapan.com). He teaches American Literature and Culture (novels, film, art and music) at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo. www.michaelpronko.com https: //www.facebook.com/pronkoauthor/ https: //www.instagram.com/michaelpronko/ @pronkomichael and the other usual suspects...