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Copy/paste the text below into your blog. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/522534.Geisha_A_Life?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Geisha: A Life" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1175517692m/522534.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/522534.Geisha_A_Life?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Geisha: A Life</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/617.Mineko_Iwasaki">Mineko Iwasaki</a><br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17350521?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a> rating: 4 of 5 stars<br/>I enjoyed this book! Mineko Iwasaki was one of the primary information sources for "Memoirs of a Geisha," but she was so dissatisfied with the sensationalized nature of that story that she was moved to write her own. I haven't read "Memoirs," but I remember that the movie didn't hold my attention, mostly due to the fact that it portrayed geishas as also being prostitutes, which made me lose patience with it. (For some reason, I remember learning this in school, with conjunction with what I don't exactly remember. For all I know, the teacher stood up and said "Geisha weren't prostitutes! Class dismissed!") <br/> <br/>Ahem. The book. It's written simply, in a straightforward style, appropriate to an autobiography by someone who isn't a writer. Mineko (who was born Masako Tanaka) enters the life of a geisha at age five, out of a sense of responsibility to her family, which was struggling financially. (Five! At that age, I was still carefully arranging My Little Ponies!) She falls in love with traditional Japanese dance, excels in it, and makes her debut as an <i>maiko</i>, or apprentice, at a young age. Over the next few years, Mineko becomes the most popular and successful geisha in Japan. She is adopted by Iwasaki house as its heir, makes a ton of money, falls in love, and basically works her butt off, while getting no sleep and having no social life of her own. Eventually, she realizes that in order to be truly happy, she has to leave her career behind. <br/> <br/>Mineko is really something. She is driven to be the best she can, yet she takes the time to take care of the people who depend on her. She didn't leave anyone twisting in the breeze when she made her exit- she took care of her friends and relatives at Iwasaki house, some for the rest of their lives. I am glad she decided to write this story, and to hear of her happy ending. Along the way, she shares so much fascinating information and history- I felt like I really learned something about this unique part of Japanese culture. <br/> <br/>Two caveats, one small, one frustrating: she's got four stars because precisely because of the massive amount of knowledge she imparts, but I have to admit that some of the cultural details, the history of the dance, and the nuances of the power structure of the geisha world, got a little confusing at times. The other is that while she repeatedly mentions going to the directors of the artistic district and telling them that reforms are needed, we don't get to see enough detail on that. I wanted her to delineate that a little more- "X isn't working, we need to do Y instead." I would have been very interested in hearing the specifics of these discussions. <br/> <br/>Otherwise, highly recommended for anyone interested in the subject. <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/827978?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>