Beauty and Chaos: Slices and Morsels of Tokyo Life

By Michael Pronko

Whether contemplating Tokyo’s odd-shaped bonsai houses, chopstick ballet or the perilous habit of running for trains, the essays in Beauty and Chaos explore the world’s biggest city from the inside. Living in and writing about the city for over 15 years, Pronko shows why Tokyo is the most amazing, confusing place in the world.

Digging into overlooked slices and morsels of everyday life in, these short essays spin insight from observation. In turns comic, philosophic, descriptive and exasperated, the essays in this collection untangle contradictions and open inner connections. Tokyo emerges a fascinating place of chaotic commotion and human-scale beauty.

Gold Award First Place for Cultural Non-Fiction (Reader’s Favorite Awards 2015)

Gold Award for Creative Non-Fiction (E-Lit Awards 2015)

Gold Award for Travel Writing (Non-Fiction Authors Association)