The geisha won the lawsuit against Mr. Golden, author of Autobiography of a Geisha, who had felt the need to, um, add some drama to the story that was told to him.

The geisha -- Mineko Iwasake -- then wrote her own books: Geisha, A Life and Geisha of Gion. She was very clear in the book I read that geishas were not courtesans, though she does relate the story of a sister geisha who was sold into prostitution as a child, but escaped (upward) into geisha life.

It was a fascinating read, and I may very well pick up Geisha of Gion, too.