I've had this on my shelves for years, and had become quite wary of picking it up, having read Said et al in the time since I bought it. And yes, all the caveats about the idea of a white American woman 'becoming' a geisha apply, although Dalby herself is rather more careful inside the book than the blurbs on its cover - she is clear that she doesn't go through the full geisha training, and is only ever playing a role (albeit one to which she has, in fact, been invited by her geisha interlocutors and hosts), as part of her academic research. I imagine there have been many critiques of this book, and of such ethnographic practice, in the years since it was published.

Nonetheless, I found Dalby's account to be sensitive, respectful, and insightful (certainly for a reader who knows little about the topic, at any rate), offering lots of context for her observations, giving a decent amount of space to the voices of the women she interviewed, and - of particular interest to me - presenting a clear sense of how geisha practices, and attitudes to geisha, have changed over time. Inevitably, a lot of the older generation of interviewees (c. 1975 when she did her fieldwork) think things aren't as good as in their day. I also found the explanation of variation in geisha practice between Kyoto, Tokyo, and a spa town fascinating.

I loved the book Memoirs of a Geisha as a fictional account and it was my first introduction to the Geisha lifestyle. I feel that Liza Dalby's "Geisha" is a book version of a FAQ on Geisha. Everything I ever wanted to know is in this book. I think the most interesting parts are when Ms. Dalby explains the differences between a prostitute and a geisha, although, with my westernized upbringing there are still some hazy areas. It was amazing that she, as a foreign woman, was allowed to train to become a Geisha for her research. I found the writing a bit disjointed at times and would have preferred the book to have been separated into two different books, the memoirs and the Geisha cultural study.

Detailed and rich, covering both geisha history and geisha in modern Japan. Liza Dalby lived as an apprentice geisha and has a detailed grasp few others have achieved; she is also ruefully accurate about her initial failures to grasp Japanese culture.

Liza Dalby's remarkable PhD thesis makes an amazing book. The fact she was able to become a member of the tightly knit geisha society is astonishing. If you've ever spent significant time in Japan, you will appreciate Dalby's work that much more.

Avevo aspettative enormi per questo libro... aspettative che sono andate a rotoli!
Ho chiuso il libro con una sensazione amara. Lo stile della Dalby è così freddo da gelare un inverno intero! Mi aspettavo una descrizione precisa e dettagliata della vita delle Geishe, invece, l'autrice non si è sprecata più di tanto. Descrizioni approssimate, importanti cerimonie e riti solo accennati...
Delusione totale!

A fascinating insight into Japanese culture and the world of Geisha society. Dalby's research was started as a PhD project and adapted into this book after her thesis was finished. Her knowledge of Japanese culture, both inside and outside that of the Geisha community, is extensive and comes from many years of being immersed in that culture. Although primarily a look at the various Geisha communities opperating in Japan Dalby also makes observations on other aspects of the culture as they relate to the Flower and Willow world. While I struggled with some of the Japanese words the book is still very readable and a must for anyone interested in this nation.

Definitely the most interesting book about Geisha’s that I have read (and I’ve read a few). I really enjoyed Liz’s first hand account of her training and the stories about the women she worked with and interviewed.
I would recommend to anyone interested in learning about the Geisha lifestyle. Though this is old (I believe published originally in the 80’s and based on Liz’s own experiences in the 70’s), it doesn’t feel dated, though I’m sure many things have changed. It’s only about 320 pages long, but small print and very detailed.

Super hard to read. A very interesting topic but I couldn't get through this without it putting me to sleep.

This bestseller offers an intimate glimpse into a unique female community. Liz Dalby, the only non-Japanese woman ever to have trained as a geisha, reveals the realities of geisha life. I read this book thinking it would be following the style of Memoirs of a Geisha. However, this book was totally different, in that it was a factual biography. I found it interesting to read about the life of Geisha in Japan, but overall I found this book a little monotonous.

Lots of great information but I didn't really like how Dalby writes. Sometimes it almost seems like she is prejudiced toward Westerners...Like many of the other reviews say, a better editor would have been beneficial because there are many, many typos throughout the book. Dalby even gets the capital of Japan wrong once in the feudal era too.

There's lots of information here about geisha but I don't think it's the BEST source. Dalby talks about geisha via her personal narrative so sometimes we learn more about her personal experiences than we do about geisha.

It you want some factual context for Memoirs of a Geisha read this. Golden based some of his tale on this book.

Magnificent! Dalby has written a VERY thorough book covering all aspect of geisha life, yet it's never dry or boring. It strikes the perfect balance between travelogue and dissertation--yes, there is plenty of fact and history and pondering of culture, but also plenty of humor, tragedy, and personal experience which serves to lighten the whole piece.

I have long admired geisha as "living museums" of traditional Japan, a tradition I will never see except through such deliberate cultivations. I've read several books on the subject. Yet Dalby's book went further back into history and deeper into every cultural aspect than any others I've stumbled across. If you truly want to understand geisha--their culture, their daily life, their history, and their place in modern Japanese society, this is the one-stop shop.

A pity though that the book was written in 1976. It would be interesting to know how different things are in the flower-and-willow world of the 2000s.