MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
by Golden Arthur
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- Signed
- Condition
- Fine/Fine
- Seller
-
PASADENA, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Knopf Book. Fine. Hardcover. A FINE HARDCOVER REPRINT IN DUST JACKET WITH SIGNED PUBLISHERS BOOKPLATE.
Synopsis
Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel by Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first-person view, tells the fictional story of a geisha working in Kyoto, Japan, before and after World War II.
Reviews
On Jan 16 2014, a reader said:
Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden, is a warm, happy read. It is the story of a Japanese girl whose father sells her and her sister to strangers as her mother dies. Her older sister is sold into prostitution, and our heroine, Chiyo, only nine years old at the time, is sold to a geisha household in Kyoto, and expected to become a geisha. We discover that, at this time, becoming a geisha requires years of schooling. Chiyo studies various instruments, singing, dancing, and the tea ceremony, so that she can become an entertainer of men in tea houses. Eventually, she is adopted as a “younger sister” by Mameha, a first-rank geisha. All of this occurs before the Great Depression and the Second World War. During that terrible period, everyone in Japan underwent great hardships. The geisha profession was legally abolished. Chiyo, by now known by her geisha name of Sayuri, spent the war years sewing parachutes in a former kimono maker’s home and shop. After the war, she eventually was able to return to her geisha life. The story of her success, largely guided by Mameha, and her own desire to become worthy of a man she has fallen in love with, is very endearing. Somewhat to our surprise, she eventually comes to live in the USA, along with her lover. We suspect, although we are never told outright, that she has an American son. She tells her story verbally over a period of months to a sympathetic writer. This is a hard book to put down; the action is so real, and the writing so lyrical, that we feel we must keep reading until we know the end.
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Details
- Bookseller
- VAGABOND BOOKS (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- JM 7/31-0
- Title
- MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
- Author
- Golden Arthur
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Publisher
- Knopf
- Bookseller catalogs
- RELIGION;
Terms of Sale
VAGABOND BOOKS
CWO. returns accepted within 7 days in same condition.
About the Seller
VAGABOND BOOKS
Biblio member since 2009
PASADENA, California
About VAGABOND BOOKS
We are an out of print bookstore. We are celebrating our 45th year in the out of print/antiquarian book business. Please search or browse our inventory of hard to find, out of print, used, and rare books. If you can't find what you like please call us at 310 936-5249We have over 50,000 books on subjects ranging from FIRST EDITIONS, ART, MYSTERIES, POETRY, MUSIC, SCIENCE FICTION, LITERATURE AND LITERARY CRITICISM TO MILITARY HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY AND GENERAL HISTORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY. We are members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Association and the International Booksellers Association. We have been in business since 1975.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...