Memoirs of a Geisha (Paperback, Reissue)

This is the kind of book that you just have to persuade your spouse, friends, colleagues, relations or even chance acquaintances to read. It sets itself up as a transcript of the memoirs of a genuine geisha, as told to an American professor of Japanese history. Gradually an extraordinary story unfolds, revealing the tragic, touching tale of the transformation of Chiyo, the daughter of a poor fisherman into Sayuri, a renowned and much sought-after geisha in Kyoto in the 1930s. The story, told without sentimentality, delves beneath the glamorous, erotic facade of these immaculate women constrained by centuries of tradition, rules and regulations, to expose the grim reality of their lives. Our heroine, like the rest of her fellow geishas, is chained to the profession thrust upon her, by insurmountable debts accrued forcibly in her name. Behind the elegant and delicious images of Japanese prints lies hidden a world of intrigue, formality and cruelty. An altogether remarkable and riveting account that has one almost believing it really is a true autobiography. The sheer bulk of fascinating, often painful, yet sometimes joyful, detail of this uniquely Japanese stylized way of life woven into the gentle Sayuri's story make fascinating and enthralling reading. Review by SOPHIE GRIGSON (Kirkus UK)

A seductive and evocative epic on an intimate scale, that tells the extraordinary story of a geisha girl. Summoning up more than twenty years of Japan's most dramatic history, it uncovers a hidden world of eroticism and enchantment, exploitation and degradation. From a small fishing village in 1929, the tale moves to the glamorous and decadent heart of Kyoto in the 1930s, where a young peasant girl is sold as servant and apprentice to a renowned geisha house. She tells her story many years later from the Waldorf Astoria in New York; it exquisitely evokes another culture, a different time and the details of an extraordinary way of life. It conjures up the perfection and the ugliness of life behind rice-paper screens, where young girls learn the arts of geisha - dancing and singing, how to wind the kimono, how to walk and pour tea, and how to beguile the most powerful men.

General

Imprint:	Vintage
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	June 1998
First published:	June 1998
Authors:	Arthur Golden
Dimensions:	198 x 130 x 28mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	428
Edition:	Reissue
ISBN-13:	978-0-09-977151-7
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	0-09-977151-9
Barcode:	9780099771517

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