Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but...
Review: I read this book and found that it was very interesting. I learned some things and the book was very good at dispeling some of the myth of geisha. However, I found that it was not written very well. Somehow the tone did not seem genuine but this may be a problem of the English translation rather than from the author herself. I also did not think that the book went into the level of detail that I was expecting, especially since this was a book written by a former great Geisha. All in all, I was somewhat disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: The definitive book on Geisha life!
Review: I read this book and thoroughly loved it! What a life! I deliberately took my time reading it because I did not want it to end.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative
Review: I read this book out of sheer curiosity about the life of a geisha and finished it by picking up tidbits of the rich culture of the Japanese.
This is the first book on this topic that I have ever read so I can't compare it to anything else but I will say that I learned a lot and it sparked an interest to read more about this in the future.
I was blown away by the incredible memory of Mineko. She remembered the smallest of details of life with her parents (whom she resided with only until the age of 5) and she was able to retain so much information in her early childhood during her training. That determination fostered a workaholic approach to her career when she became a maiko, where she set out to become Number One.
One thing that stood out for me was when Mineko pointed out that no two kimonos are alike and that the patterns on them indicates what stage a woman is in in her career.
I also learned about the turning of the collar and the differences between a red and white collar (red symbolizing a child, white an adult). At the age of 21, a woman becomes a full-fledged geiko.
There was an antagonist in the book, Yaeko. Someone needed to teach this woman (and, apparently, her sister) something called manners. This woman dumped all over Mineko, making life miserable for her during her training and deliberately embarassing her in front of customers. (Nice to see her get it in the end proving that "what goes around comes around.")
Towards the end of the book, Mineko details how much the performers give to the profession but how the profession does not give back to the people who breathe life into it (not her words). She also sadly points out that the world of the geisha is dying out.
And despite her gripes with "the system" that she tried for so long to change and couldn't, she is truly sad about its bleak future.
Rating: 
Summary: I'd give it a 0 if possible
Review: I waited so long to read this book, and hated it after the first page. It's more of a pretentious glorification of herself than a biography.
Rating:
Summary: A shameless "tell all" type book
Review: I was so disappointed after reading only the first few chapters. Iwasaki spends much of her time justifying selfish behavior rather than explaining geisha life. Moreover, her stories seem rather inflated. After studying and living in Japan for a number of years, I do not believe that this is a definitive guide to geisha. Rather it seems to be more of a tell all book from someone once famed and glamourized. Perhaps she was rightly famed for her talents, but her perspectives are merely that... her own perspectives. This book does not offer a scholarly insight into the geisha profession or history. While Iwasaki does make some valid points about societal structure, education, etc. there is something truly lacking. Perhaps it is her lack of sincerity and believability. It seems that she has no trouble exposing others' inadequacies, but shamelessly protects her own face. As other reviewers have noted there is good intellectual material available for those that are really interested in this topic. Even art history books concerning Edo period "ukiyoe" (woodblock prints) would reveal more interesting and exciting stories than this book.
Rating:
Summary: Pah-lease!
Review: I will probably be one of the few that have read the book and not liked it that much. There are things that I loved about this book but those things were difficult to see through all of Mineko's bragging and pretending like some things happened accidently. I think Mineko was probably very skilled at reading people that she wanted to impress and knowing what to do and say to get the right reactions from them. For example; I think she knew exactly what reaction she would get from the people at her first banquet when she went over to the dolls as though she were in awe. Or when she played hard to get with Tosio, etc etc etc. The fact that she was manipulative and knew what to do or say to get those reactions isn't the part that put me off because that was her job. What put me off was her PRETENDING as though it was all an accident or coincidence that everyone found her so appealing. She was so annoying in places in the book that I had to sympathize with the other geikos and maikos who disliked her so much that they played evil tricks on her. (I probably would have been the one putting pins in the bottom of her kimono!) She also contradicts herself throughout the book; first she has friends, then everyone hates her; she wants to please everyone then she hates people. Oy! Just too many times to say. However, I did love learning about how the geisha world is run and everything that it takes to be one. I loved the pictures too. It was nice to see what the people in the book actually looked like. And wasn't Mineko just gorgeous? Okay, I've been catty enough....almost enough to have been a geiko during the
60's! ;-)
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, not obnoxious at all if you consider...
Review: I've been interested in finding something that could give insight to geisha life. I had heard from some sources that Memoirs of a Geisha was not too accurate in its portrayal of geisha life. Thus the idea of reading something similar, but hopefully more accurate, compelled me to skim through Geisha, a Life. Ultimately I went back and bought it. To an unattentive reader, the author may come off as pretentious and self-glorifying. However, if you consider that, for all intents and purposes, she was practically an "Olympian" in her field, her comments do have merit. And what is wrong with saying the truth if it is the truth? If Olympic gold winner track star Michael Johnson says in a book, "I have talent" who is to disagree? Why is it any different with Iwasaki? Because she has no gold medal to show for her acomplishments? Consider that, unless you lived in Japan at the time, you probably do not fully grasp her star status, as I am sure I do not either. Finally, she raises several examples from her life that show she is not some arrogant woman, who regards herself with godly esteem. In fact, some of these examples come on the very next page of "self-glory", where she clearly shows her past mistakes and naivete. I recommend that the reader treat this book more as a personal diary, rather than some sort of historical document. It can be a very delightful and fun book. Personally, it helped clear up some misgivings I had towards geisha, due to Western misunderstanding and obfuscation. Ironically, I kept on wanting to skip all the historical data of geisha life that I had been searching for and jump back into her life stories.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Diary
Review: If you are looking for a book to find out more about the life of a typical Geisha, find another book. This book is the life story of the most successful Geisha of her time. Contrary to other reviewers' opinions, I neither found this book neither self important nor boring. Mineko's circumstances were anything but typical for a Geisha, so in her priviledged life she was oblivious to many of the things going on around her. For example, buying a ruler is actually an important event rather than a mundane detail - showing her complete lack of understanding of money as a child. If you read Memoirs of a Geisha and loved the scandals and intrigue, you may be disappointed with this book, as there are no made up sexual encounters. Even though Memoirs of a Geisha was based on the same woman, she spends a lot of the book correcting the common misconceptions people have of Geisha. However, this made the book no less interesting for me. There are other conflicts such as having to choose between her biological parents and her love for dancing, or having to fend off the hostile attacks by her older sister Yaeko whose place Mineko took over in the okiya. I read this book in one afternoon and was moved to both laughter and tears. Treat this book as it was meant, a diary of a special Geisha, and you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Diary
Review: If you read Memoirs of a Geisha, this is the woman the story is based on. However, her real life was much different than the fictional Sayuri. Geisha, A Life is the diary of Mineko Iwasaki, the most successful geisha of her time. She is hailed as a legend and had very special circumstances when compared to typical geisha. Contrary to other reviewers' opinions, I found this book to be neither self important nor boring. For example, buying a ruler is not a mundane detail but a great example of how little she understood about money and other things going on around her as a child. Unlike Sayuri, Mineko's life is relatively scandal-less. This however does not make the book any less exciting. Instead she faces other conflicts such as having to choose between her biological parents and her love for dancing and having to deal with hostile attacks by her older sister Yaeko whose place she takes as the heir to the Iwasaki okiya. If you treat this book as the diary of one woman, and not a chronicle of the life of typical geisha, you won't be disappointed. I read this book in one afternoon and was moved both to laughter and tears.
Rating: 
Summary: Obnoxious
Review: In the beginning, this book appeared promising. I had never understood the geisha concept and was eager to find out more. Even after reading the entire book, I'm not sure that I am any further enlightened. Also, Mineko, the geisha, was and is shallow and selfish and self-aggrandizing. Her "character" (in a book that is touted as non-fiction) rang quite false. I had the sense that the story was crafted by a poor fiction writer. I rated the book 2 stars (instead of one) because I was able to tolerate it until the end, but my advise to you is DON'T BOTHER!
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