Arthur Golden is an American fiction writer and the author of the best-selling novel ‘Memoirs of a Geisha.’ This is his only published piece of work which he completed over six years. His passion for Japanese history and art spurred his desire to write this novel.

He spent much of his adult life learning about Japanese culture and tradition; plus, his mother’s side of the family has a strong lineage of writers/journalists who owned the New York Times.

Life Facts

Arthur Golden was born on December 6th, 1956 (age 66).
He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the United States.
He attended his undergraduate at Harvard College, where he received a degree in art history, focusing on Japanese art.
Later, he went to Columbia University. There, he studied Japanese history and earned a Master’s.
He also has a Master’s in English from Boston University.

Interesting Facts

His only novel ‘Memoirs of a Geisha‘ was written over six years.
He is the great-grandson of the original and former owner/publisher of the New York Times, Adolph Ochs.
His mother, Ruth Sulzberger Holmberg, was also an accomplished publisher for The Chattanooga Times.
Arthur Golden was sued after the Japanese release of the novel by a former geisha he interviewed, Mineko Iwasaki.
The novel was made into a film in 2005, which received three Academy Awards.
Japanese readers were upset with Golden’s depiction of geisha as prostitutes in his novel.

Famous Books by Arthur Golden

Memoirs of a Geisha – in terms of his literary output, American writer Arthur Golden has only one notable achievement- ‘Memoirs of a Geisha.’ He spent six years researching ‘Memoirs of a Geisha,’ which some readers have suggested, may have worn him out as a writer. It’s believed by others that the success of the novel was the main reason he has, so far, felt as though he doesn’t need to write anything else.

The novel sold more than 4 million copies in the two years after it was published. It was listed on the New York Times bestseller for that period, as well. In 2005, Golden sold the rights to the novel to be made into a film, and it was quite successful in theaters winning three Academy Awards. Today, far more of the public is familiar with the film than the novel. The film is also often cited as the driving force behind new readers exploring Golden’s only written work.

The novel was famously the subject of a court case that arose after the geisha Golden interviewed accused him of breach of contract and suggested that he had agreed to, ensuring that she broke a traditional code of silence.

Early Life

Arthur Golden was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on December 6th. His parents are Ruth née Sulzberger Golden and Ben Hale Golden. Golden’s parents separated when he was very young, only eight years old. Soon after this, his father passed away. He spent his childhood growing up in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, where he attended Lookout Mountain Elementary School. He went to middle and high school at the boys-only school, Baylor School.

Golden graduated high school in 1974 before leaving for college, where he would attend Harvard University. Golden’s passion for Japanese art inspired him to study it at university. He received a degree in art history, majoring in Japanese art.

Golden got married in 1982 to Gertrude “Trudy” Legge. They have two children, and they presently live in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He is related to the original owner and publisher of the New York Times, Adolph Ochs. His mother, Ruth Sulzberger, is a member of the Ochs-Sulzberger family lineage, which owned and ran the New York Times during its earliest period.

Writing Career and Relationships

The ‘Memoirs of a Geisha,’ Golden’s most famous (and only) novel, was written over a six-year period. The entire text was rewritten three times during the novel’s development. The first two drafts of the novel were written in the third person, but after interviewing Mineko Iwasaki, he decided to change the perspective to a first-person narrative perspective. Jakob Haarhuis, the novel’s translator who records Sayuri’s memoirs, is meant to represent the conversation/interview between Golden and Mineko Iwasaki.

Golden interviewed several geishas for the novel, including Mineko Iwasaki, who is known as one of the greatest ex-geishas of all time. Iwasaki sued Golden after the Japanese version of the novel was published. She claimed that Golden breached a contract the two had made and, through his writing, defamed her character. She was very unhappy that he had used her story, especially details from her personal life, which he had sworn to keep to himself.

When speaking about her issues with the novel, Iwasaki stated that Golden previously agreed to keep her identity anonymous if she allowed him to interview her. This is especially troubling when readers consider the very traditional and important code of silence/privacy among geisha when speaking about their lives. The results of the case are not entirely clear, but in 2003, the lawsuit was settled by Golden and Iwasaki outside of the courtroom.

The novel was an immediate success following its release in the U.S. in 1997. It managed to stay on the New York Times bestseller list for a little over two years. Since it was published, the novel has been translated into thirty-two languages. It has sold an incredible four million copies, if not more, of the English version alone. It was also adapted into an Academy Award-Winning feature film.

Influence from Other Writers

Arthur Golden, the author of the bestselling novel ‘Memoirs of a Geisha,’ never references any particular writer or author that influenced him to write his book. His passion for learning and writing about Japanese history and culture is evident in the degrees he received during his undergraduate and graduate schooling.

At Harvard University, Columbia University, and Boston University, Golden received degrees in Japanese art history, Japanese Language, and Japanese history.

Literature by Arthur Golden

Explore literature by Arthur Golden below, created by the team at Book Analysis.

Memoirs of a Geisha