Geisha by Liza Dalby (A Review)

I started this book hoping for a first-hand account of life in Japan (and the geisha world) through a western perspective. What I got was slightly different. Firstly, there was less of a biographical approach than a factual textbook approach, each section dealing with a different aspect of geisha life. Liza Dalby rarely wrote of her opinions on what was happening, commenting more on how others perceived her. There were also accounts of several different visits intermingled in such a way that it was sometimes hard to tell which one she was talking about. Despite these differences from what I was expecting, I did find this book fascinating. The details of an alternative way of living intrigued me (as my family can testify from my regular comments to them) and I certainly learnt a lot.