Showing 20 results for Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha cover
Fiction1999-11-09

Memoirs of a Geisha

Arthur Golden

A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel tells with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction—at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful—and completely unforgettable.

Memoirs of a GeishaArthur Golden
Fiction2008-05-22

Memoirs of a Geisha

A Novel

Arthur Golden

The "memoirs" of one of Japan's most celebrated geishas describes how, in 1929, as a little girl, she is sold into slavery, her efforts to learn the arts of the geisha, the impact of World War II, and her struggle to reinvent herself to win the man she loves. Reissue. (A Columbia Pictures film, directed by Rob Marshall, releasing Winter 2005, starring Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Koji Yakusho, & Gong Li) (Historical Fiction)

Memoirs of a Geisha cover
Fiction1999-01-01

Memoirs of a Geisha

Arthur Golden

The "memoirs" of one of Japan's most celebrated geishas describes how, as a little girl in 1929, she is sold into slavery; her efforts to learn the arts of the geisha; the impact of World War II; and her struggle to reinvent herself to win the man she lov

Geisha cover
Performing Arts1983-01-01

Geisha

Liza Crihfield Dalby, Liza Dalby

The author, an American anthropologist, describes her experiences during the year she spent as a Japanese geisha, and looks at the role of women, and geishas, in modern Japan

Memoirs of a Geisha cover
Performing Arts2005-10-20

Memoirs of a Geisha

A Portrait of the Film

Peggy Mulloy, David James

A stunning visual companion to the highly anticipated new film from director Rob Marshall (Chicago), based on the international bestseller by Arthur Golden—a major holiday release from Columbia Pictures. Featuring over 150 full-color photographs and drawings, this lavishly illustrated book captures the artistry and romance behind the exquisite new film from Rob Marshall, the director of the Oscar®-winning film Chicago, starring Ziyi Zhang (House of Flying Daggers) and Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai). Directed by Academy Award®-nominee Rob Marshall (Chicago) and produced by Lucy Fisher, Douglas Wick, and Steven Spielberg, from a screenplay by Robin Swicord and Doug Wright, Memoirs of a Geisha features an all-star Asian cast including Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Koji Yakusho (Shall We Dance?), Youki Kudoh (Snow Falling on Cedars), and Gong Li (Raise the Red Lantern). Based on the internationally acclaimed novel by Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha is a sweeping romantic epic set in the mysterious and exotic world that still casts a potent spell today. The story begins in the years before WWII when a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a servant in a geisha house. Despite a treacherous rival who nearly breaks her spirit, the girl blossoms into the legendary geisha Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang). Beautiful and accomplished, Sayuri captivates the most powerful men of her day, but is haunted by her secret love for the one man who is out of her reach (Ken Watanabe). The Newmarket Pictorial Moviebook explores the intricate process of re-creating the period and world of the geisha. Special sections showcase production design, makeup, choreography, and costumes, featuring kimonos created especially for the movie by five-time Oscar®-nominated costume designer Colleen Atwood. Sidebars throughout also provide fascinating historical background on the geisha culture.

Geisha of Gion cover
Biography & Autobiography2012-12-11

Geisha of Gion

The True Story of Japan's Foremost Geisha

Mineko Iwasaki, Rande Brown

'A glimpse into the exotic, mysterious, tinged-with-eroticism world of the almost mythical geisha' Val Hennessy, Daily Mail '[An] eloquent and innovative memoir' The Times The extraordinary, bestselling memoir from Japan's foremost geisha. 'I can identify the exact moment when things began to change. It was a cold winter afternoon. I had just turned three.' Emerging shyly from her hiding place, Mineko encounters Madam Oima, the formidable proprietress of a prolific geisha house in Gion. Madam Oima is mesmerised by the child's black hair and black eyes: she has found her successor. And so Mineko is gently, but firmly, prised away from her parents to embark on an extraordinary profession, of which she will become the best. But even if you are exquisitely beautiful and the darling of the okiya, the life of a geisha is one of gruelling demands. And Mineko must first contend with her bitterly jealous sister who is determined to sabotage her success . . . Captivating and poignant, Geisha of Gion tells of Mineko's ascendancy to fame and her ultimate decision to leave the profession she found so constricting. After centuries of mystery Mineko is the only geisha to speak out. This is the true story she has long wanted to tell and the one that the West has long wanted to hear.

Autobiography of a Geisha cover
Biography & Autobiography2003

Autobiography of a Geisha

増田小夜

Home to the New York Yankees, the Bronx Zoo, and the Grand Concourse, the Bronx was at one time a haven for upwardly mobile second-generation immigrants eager to leave the crowded tenements of Manhattan in pursuit of the American dream. Once hailed as a "wonder borough" of beautiful homes, parks, and universities, the Bronx became--during the 1960s and 1970s--a national symbol of urban deterioration. Thriving neighborhoods that had long been home to generations of families dissolved under waves of arson, crime, and housing abandonment, turning blocks of apartment buildings into gutted, graffiti-covered shells and empty, trash-filled lots. In this revealing history of the Bronx, Evelyn Gonzalez describes how the once-infamous New York City borough underwent one of the most successful and inspiring community revivals in American history. From its earliest beginnings as a loose cluster of commuter villages to its current status as a densely populated home for New York's growing and increasingly more diverse African American and Hispanic populations, this book shows how the Bronx interacted with and was affected by the rest of New York City as it grew from a small colony on the tip of Manhattan into a sprawling metropolis. This is the story of the clattering of elevated subways and the cacophony of crowded neighborhoods, the heady optimism of industrial progress and the despair of economic recession, and the vibrancy of ethnic cultures and the resilience of local grassroots coalitions crucial to the borough's rejuvenation. In recounting the varied and extreme transformations this remarkable community has undergone, Evelyn Gonzalez argues that it was not racial discrimination, rampant crime, postwar liberalism, or big government that was to blame for the urban crisis that assailed the Bronx during the late 1960s. Rather, the decline was inextricably connected to the same kinds of social initiatives, economic transactions, political decisions, and simple human choices that had once been central to the development and vitality of the borough. Although the history of the Bronx is unquestionably a success story, crime, poverty, and substandard housing still afflict the community today. Yet the process of building and rebuilding carries on, and the revitalization of neighborhoods and a resurgence of economic growth continue to offer hope for the future.

Memoirs of a GeishaRobin Swicord
Geishas2005

Memoirs of a Geisha

Screenplay

Robin Swicord

In 1929, a poor fisherman sells his 9-year-old daughter to a geisha house in Kyoto. Chiyo will be an unpaid servant until it is determined if she is beautiful enough for apprenticeship, and the house's clientèle. Run by Mother, the ruling geisha is Hatsumomo, and little Pumpkin her only friend. Trained under strict discipline for a lifetime of entertaining and flattering wealthy men, Sayuri grows up lovely, accomplished, and the target of jealous rivals. Love is no part of this cloistered world, although geisha lore hints that even if they fall in love with clients--the operative word is client, and that love is never free.

Geisha cover
History2008-12-10

Geisha

25th Anniversary Edition, Updated with a New Preface

Liza Dalby

Discusses the geisha--practioners of music and dance and unmarried companions to the Japanese male elite.

A Study Guide for Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha" cover
Literary Criticism2016-06-29

A Study Guide for Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha"

Gale, Cengage Learning

A Study Guide for Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.

Memoirs of a GeishaRobin Swicord
Geishas2005

Memoirs of a Geisha

Screenplay

Robin Swicord

In 1929, a poor fisherman sells his 9-year-old daughter to a geisha house in Kyoto. Chiyo will be an unpaid servant until it is determined if she is beautiful enough for apprenticeship, and the house's clientèle. Run by Mother, the ruling geisha is Hatsumomo, and little Pumpkin her only friend. Trained under strict discipline for a lifetime of entertaining and flattering wealthy men, Sayuri grows up lovely, accomplished, and the target of jealous rivals. Love is no part of this cloistered world, although geisha lore hints that even if they fall in love with clients--the operative word is client, and that love is never free.

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