🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About Michael Pronko
After he graduated from Brown University in philosophy, he hit the road. He traveled around the world for two years working different odd jobs, and finally returned to school. After he got an MA in Education, he got a call from Beijing at five in the morning offering him a teaching job. He took it and he lived in Beijing for two years, teaching English, traveling around the country and writing. Michael spent more time traveling, finishing degrees, a PhD in English at the University of Kent at Canterbury (on Dickens and film adaptation) and Comparative Literature in Madison, Wisconsin. He spent a ton of time writing, “Woodshedding”, as jazz musicians call it. Michael finds that the most thrilling part of writing is the internal excitement.
All Book Series by Michael Pronko
Beauty and Chaos: Slices and Morsels of Tokyo Life
Series opener · book 1 of 3 · published 2009
Motions and Moments: More Essays on Tokyo
Latest in the series · book 3 of 3 · published 2015
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Michael Pronko?
After he graduated from Brown University in philosophy, he hit the road. He traveled around the world for two years working different odd jobs, and finally returned to school. After he got an MA in Education, he got a call from Beijing at five in the morning offering him a teaching job.
Which Michael Pronko series should I start with?
The best place to start is the A-maze-ing Tokyo Non-Fiction series, the earliest of Michael Pronko's multi-book series: it opens with Beauty and Chaos: Slices and Morsels of Tokyo Life (2009) and runs to 3 books across 2009–2015, ending with Motions and Moments: More Essays on Tokyo (2015). Michael Pronko's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.
How many books has Michael Pronko written?
Michael Pronko has 11 books catalogued in this guide, published between 2009 and 2025. 10 of them belong to 2 named series — the largest being the Detective Hiroshi series with 7 books — and 1 is a standalone title, collection or anthology.
In what order should Michael Pronko's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Michael Pronko's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are A-maze-ing Tokyo Non-Fiction (2009–2015, 3 books) and Detective Hiroshi (2017–2025, 7 books).
How are Michael Pronko's books organised into series?
This guide splits Michael Pronko's 11 books into 2 named series and 1 title that stands alone or appear only in collections: Detective Hiroshi (7 books, 2017–2025); A-maze-ing Tokyo Non-Fiction (3 books, 2009–2015).