Motions and Moments

by Michael Pronko

Overview

“Takes the sweeping size, bustle, and chaos of Tokyo and makes it small, introspective, and personal,” Independent Publisher.
“Captures the essence and allure of Tokyo.” Feathered Quill.
“A memoir to be savored like a fine red wine,” Publishers Daily.

Motions and Moments captures the ceaseless flow and brief momentary dramas of the biggest city in the world with gentle humor and rich detail. As in his first two books, this third memoir of life in Tokyo explores the uniqueness of living in small spaces, learning to love crowds, sitting under cherry blossoms, and surviving the 2011 earthquake. These short, personal pieces go deeper into the fascinating undercurrents of life in Tokyo.
After two-plus decades living, teaching, and writing in Tokyo, the author remains fascinated by how Tokyoites work, commute, and eat standing up at elbow-bumping counters. With an eye for detail and a passion for the city, the writing is steeped in the city’s perpetual energy. Motions and Moments is one American’s exploration of the intricate life in one of the most dynamic places in the world.
Winner Best Indie Book Award Non-Fiction
Indie Groundbreaking Book Independent Publisher Book Review
Gold Award Readers’ Favorite Non-Fiction Cultural
Gold Award Global E-Book Awards Travel Writing
Gold Award Non-Fiction Author’s Association

More at: www.michaelpronko.com

Product Details

BN ID:	2940152530506
Publisher:	Michael Pronko
Publication date:	12/18/2015
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Michael Pronko is an award-winning, Tokyo-based writer of murder, memoir and music. His writings on Tokyo life and his taut character-driven mysteries have won critics’ awards and five-star reviews. Kirkus Reviews called his second novel, The Moving Blade, “An elegant balance of Japanese customs with American-style hard-boiled procedural” and selected it for their Best Books of 2018.

Michael also runs the website, Jazz in Japan, about the vibrant jazz scene in Tokyo and Yokohama. He has written regular columns about Japanese culture, art, jazz, society and politics for Newsweek Japan, The Japan Times, Artscape Japan, Jazznin, and ST Shukan. He has also appeared on NHK and Nippon Television.

A philosophy major, Michael traveled for years, ducking in and out of graduate schools, before finishing his PhD on Charles Dickens and film, and settling in Tokyo as a professor of American Literature at Meiji Gakuin University. He teaches contemporary American novels, film adaptations, music and art.

Table of Contents

Contents

Motions and Moments: More Essays on Tokyo

Intro and In
City of Eyes

Part I: Surfaces

Why Ask Me?
The Language Dance
Urban Speed Poetry
Perfect Outfits
Don't Drop It!
Cell Screen Tokyo
Public Tightness
Tokyo Asleep

Part II: Miniatures

Perfect Forms
Fitting Things In
Fitting Me In
Small Item Heaven
Give-Away City
My Toe in Tokyo
What's in a Name?
Thousand Armed Kannons
Plastic City

Part III: Constructs

Construction and Resistance
The South Side Theory
Staying Grounded
Parting the Crowd
Double Construction
Ugliest City in the World?
Cleanliness, Tokyo-ness
Tokyo Symphony
Tokyo 24/7
The Summer Slowing

Part IV: Quaking

Are You OK? (March 18, 2011)
Shaken Up (June 20, 2011)
Earthquake Normal (October 2011)
Is This It? (April 2012)
That Was a Bad One (June 2015)

Part V: Serenities

Year-End Busy
Learning to Love the Crowd
Tokyo Comfort City
A Meal in the Hand
Tokyo's Traditional Pauses
Nature People
Jazz in Tokyo
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
Hanami, and Just After

Arigato-s and Gozaimasu-ses

Glossary

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the first collection, Beauty and Chaos: Slices and Morsels of Tokyo Life:

"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

"Beauty and Chaos is a spectacular read. Its essays are long enough to be cohesive and provocative while remaining short and sweet. The collection is masterful and unique." Stephanie Chandler, SPR Review

"He notices the kinds of things that might be taken for granted by the Japanese and overlooked entirely by visitors." Rebecca Foster, The Bookbag

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

Praise for the second collection, Tokyo's Mystery Deepens: Essays on Tokyo:

"As chapters flow through Tokyo cultural experiences, readers receive a rare glimpse of the structure and nature of Tokyo's underlying psyche. It's a powerful, intimate consideration of many aspects of Japanese culture." D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

"An insider's view of what life is really like in this pulsing, densely populated Asian metropolis...this little book of short, easy to read essays delivers to its readers an education." Vera A. Pereskokova Luxury Reading Blog

"Could one have a better guide? Anyone planning to work and live in Tokyo for a period of time will find Pronko indispensable." BookReview.com

"Tokyo's Mystery Deepens is so much more than just a guidebook to Tokyo...it actually plunges into the minuscule details of what it is like to be a Tokyoite." OnlineBookClub.org

Gold Award for Creative Non-Fiction (eLit Awards 2015) Silver Award for Travel Essay (eLit Award 2015)

From the Publisher