Eastern Biographies (Fiction and Non)

A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel tells with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction—at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful—and completely unforgettable.

The art of preserving the beauty of leaves has never been so simply and elegantly presented. This innovative journal holds all you need to start your own pressed leaf collection. With an introduction to the art of leaf pressing and glassine envelopes for storage and display, Fallen Leaves is an inspiring resource and beautiful keepsake book for novices and experts alike. Includes 12 glassine envelopes for storing pressed leaves; Absorbent pages for pressing; Blank pages for recording thoughts and discoveries; Great gift ideas and uses for your pressed leaves.

Tells the story of three women--Jung Chang, her mother, and her grandmother--whose lives and fortunes mirror the tumultuous twentieth century in China.