Why people recommend it
Memoirs of a Geisha is a historical fiction novel by Arthur Golden that chronicles the life of a Japanese woman who rises from poverty to become a celebrated geisha in Kyoto before and during World War Two. On the podcast The Book Review, during the episode Diana Goetsch on ‘This Body I Wore’ in 2024, Alexandra Alter mentioned the book while discussing the complex issue of cultural appropriation in literature, noting how the subject arose when teaching a class where writers examined works by white authors attempting to write across different cultural backgrounds. Separately, during the episode Inside The New York Times Book Review: Why Populism Now? in 2024, Stacy Fuller shared a voice memo on The Book Review recalling her memorable summer reading experience of the novel in July of 1999. Across these two distinct episodes of The Book Review, Alexandra Alter and Stacy Fuller demonstrated how Arthur Golden's book continues to resonate in literary discussions, touching upon both its cultural impact and the personal memories it evokes for readers years after publication.
Who recommended it
- Alexandra Alter Discussed
- Stacy Fuller Discussed
Alexandra Alter — 1 mention
“in 's case she started thinking about it several years ago when she was teaching a class at Colombia a writing class and they were talking about the issue of cultural appropriation in novels like William styron's the confession of Nat Turner or in Memoirs of AA books where white writers had tried to write about someone from another background”
Stacy Fuller — 1 mention
“the summer read that will always stick in my mind is when I read Memoirs of agaa in July of 99”