With 77 full-color photographs The fabled world of the geisha is one few Westerners know anything about. Cobb, whose prose is as pristine as her photographs, was able to enter this secretive, sensual, and artful realm and learn the truth about the lives of the ever-dwindling community of traditional geishas. Cobb summarizes their curious history and their hallowed place in Japan's hierarchical society, describes their training, and relates life stories of individuals, tales full of heartbreak and stoicism, pride and nobility. Geishas are both artists and living works of art, professional performers who transform themselves into embodiments of a timeless, anonymous, and emblematic beauty. With their stark white faces and carefully exposed necks, sculptured black hair, and brilliant red lips, eyebrows, and eyelids, these poised and elegant women transcend the everyday, offering their clients the opportunity to live a fantasy and providing themselves with a sustaining way of life in a culture that offers women few options beyond marriage. Cobb's elegant study is both striking and haunting. Donna Seaman -color photographs Jodi Cobb is a staff photographer at National Geographic who has produced more than twenty articles for the magazine. Her work has appeared in many books, including several in the A Day in the Life of . . . series. She was the first woman named White House Photographer of the Year and has been the recipient of numerous awards from the National Press Photographers Association. Ms. Cobb's photographs have been exhibited at the International Center of Photography and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. She lives in Washington, D.C. From the Trade Paperback edition. Used Book in Good Condition