Kenneth Chanko

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Kenneth Chanko

Goodreads Author


Born
in Manhattan, The United States
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May 2012

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Kenneth Chanko's debut novel, "Exit Tickets," was inspired by his ten years of teaching in Manhattan and South Bronx public schools. A former entertainment journalist whose byline has appeared in The New York Times, New York magazine and Entertainment Weekly, Chanko switched careers in 2005 to become a New York City public school teacher.

"Exit Tickets" has been hailed by Publishers Weekly as "a powerful, realistic portrayal of life in the American public education system," with the novel being awarded PW's "Editor's Pick" in its January 12th, 2026, issue. And Kirkus Reviews has praised it as "a masterful tapestry of strife and resiliency." Chanko is currently working on a sequel to "Exit Tickets."

Please visit: www.kennethchanko.com
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Average rating: 4.2 · 25 ratings · 15 reviews · 1 distinct workSimilar authors
Exit Tickets

4.20 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 2025 — 3 editions
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Rubber Room Writings

If I hadn’t been arrested on Valentine’s Day in 2014, you wouldn’t be reading this. There’d be no blog because there’d be no book.

Not that I want to spoil your reading of my debut novel—I know you’re eager to get your hands on "Exit Tickets" (pub date: Nov 18)—but that agonizing experience provided me with the time to start scribbling and informed the plot of "Exit Tickets."

Not, however, while I w Read more of this blog post »
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Published on November 14, 2025 04:41 Tags: the-origin-story-of-exit-tickets
The Temple of the...
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Tokyo Ueno Station
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You Gotta Have Wa
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Questions 27 & 28 by Karen Tei Yamashita
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Flashlight by Susan Choi
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The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
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Wind/Pinball by Haruki Murakami
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It’s true: while there are elements here in these two novellas that we’ve come to expect and value from Murakami, the *real* first Murakami book is “The Wild Sheep Chase.” These two have their delights, but they contain only glimmers of what Murakami ...more
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After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
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In one sense, a typically bizarre and hypnotic Murakami collection; on the other, it contained a specific unifying theme of sorts, something unusual for a grouping of Murakami short stories: how the Kobe earthquake of 1995 affects the diverse charact ...more
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After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
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After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
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The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima
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In the Japanese Ballpark by Robert K. Fitts
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Anti-Zionism by Benjamin Moser
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