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Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul | 
 enlarge | Author: Karen Abbott
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $8.50
You Save: $6.50 (43%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  83 reviews
Sales Rank: 4336
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 1
ISBN: 0812975995
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.74097731109041
EAN: 9780812975994
ASIN: 0812975995
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: new, unread
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| • | Hardcover - Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul | | • | Audio CD - Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul | | • | Audio CD - Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul | | • | Kindle Edition - Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul | | • | Audio Download - Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul (Unabridged) | | • | MP3 CD - Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul |
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Product Description
Step into the perfumed parlors of the Everleigh Club, the most famous brothel in American history–and the catalyst for a culture war that rocked the nation. Operating in Chicago’s notorious Levee district at the dawn of the last century, the Club’s proprietors, two aristocratic sisters named Minna and Ada Everleigh, welcomed moguls and actors, senators and athletes, foreign dignitaries and literary icons, into their stately double mansion, where thirty stunning Everleigh “butterflies” awaited their arrival. Courtesans named Doll, Suzy Poon Tang, and Brick Top devoured raw meat to the delight of Prince Henry of Prussia and recited poetry for Theodore Dreiser. Whereas lesser madams pocketed most of a harlot’s earnings and kept a “whipper” on staff to mete out discipline, the Everleighs made sure their girls dined on gourmet food, were examined by an honest physician, and even tutored in the literature of Balzac.
Not everyone appreciated the sisters’ attempts to elevate the industry. Rival Levee madams hatched numerous schemes to ruin the Everleighs, including an attempt to frame them for the death of department store heir Marshall Field, Jr. But the sisters’ most daunting foes were the Progressive Era reformers, who sent the entire country into a frenzy with lurid tales of “white slavery”——the allegedly rampant practice of kidnapping young girls and forcing them into brothels. This furor shaped America’s sexual culture and had repercussions all the way to the White House, including the formation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
With a cast of characters that includes Jack Johnson, John Barrymore, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., William Howard Taft, “Hinky Dink” Kenna, and Al Capone, Sin in the Second City is Karen Abbott’s colorful, nuanced portrait of the iconic Everleigh sisters, their world-famous Club, and the perennial clash between our nation’s hedonistic impulses and Puritanical roots. Culminating in a dramatic last stand between brothel keepers and crusading reformers, Sin in the Second City offers a vivid snapshot of America’s journey from Victorian-era propriety to twentieth-century modernity.
Visit www.sininthesecondcity.com to learn more!
“Delicious… Abbott describes the Levee’s characters in such detail that it’s easy to mistake this meticulously researched history for literary fiction.” —— New York Times Book Review
“ Described with scrupulous concern for historical accuracy…an immensely readable book.”
—— Joseph Epstein, The Wall Street Journal
“Assiduously researched… even this book’s minutiae makes for good storytelling.”
—— Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Karen Abbott has pioneered sizzle history in this satisfyingly lurid tale. Change the hemlines, add 100 years, and the book could be filed under current affairs.” —— USA Today
“A rousingly racy yarn.” –Chicago Tribune
“A colorful history of old Chicago that reads like a novel… a compelling and eloquent story.” —— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Gorgeously detailed” —— New York Daily News
“At last, a history book you can bring to the beach.” —— The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Once upon a time, Chicago had a world class bordello called The Everleigh Club. Author Karen Abbott brings the opulent place and its raunchy era alive in a book that just might become this years “The Devil In the White City.” —— Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine (cover story)
“As Abbott’s delicious and exhaustively researched book makes vividly clear, the Everleigh Club was the Taj Mahal of bordellos.” —— Chicago Sun Times
“The book is rich with details about a fast-and-loose Chicago of the early 20th century… Sin explores this world with gusto, throwing light on a booming city and exposing its shadows.”
—— Time Out Chicago
“[Abbott’s] research enables the kind of vivid description a la fellow journalist Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City that make what could be a dry historic account an intriguing read."
– Seattle Times
“Abbott tells her story with just the right mix of relish and restraint, providing a piquant guide to a world of sexuality” —— The Atlantic
“A rollicking tale from a more vibrant time: history to a ragtime beat.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“With gleaming prose and authoritative knowledge Abbott elucidates one of the most colorful periods in American history, and the result reads like the very best fiction. Sex, opulence, murder — What's not to love?”
—— Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants
“A detailed and intimate portrait of the Ritz of brothels, the famed Everleigh Club of turn-of-the-century Chicago. Sisters Minna and Ada attracted the elites of the world to such glamorous chambers as the Room of 1,000 Mirrors, complete with a reflective floor. And isn’t Minna’s advice to her resident prostitutes worthy advice for us all: “Give, but give interestingly and with mystery.”’
—— Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City
“Karen Abbott has combined bodice-ripping salaciousness with top-notch scholarship to produce a work more vivid than a Hollywood movie.”
—— Melissa Fay Greene, author of There is No Me Without You
“Sin in the Second Cityis a masterful history lesson, a harrowingbiography, and - best of all - a superfun read. The Everleigh story closely follows the turns of American history like a little sister. I can't recommend this bookloudly enough.”
—— Darin Strauss, author of Chang and Eng
“This is a story of debauchery and corruption, but it is also a story of sisterhood, and unerring devotion. Meticulously researched, and beautifully crafted, Sin in the Second City is an utterly captivating piece of history.”
—— Julian Rubinstein, author of Ballad of the Whiskey Robber
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| Customer Reviews: Read 78 more reviews...
 Something Different but Wonderful August 16, 2008
I love to read non-fiction historical books. Often, however, I find they can be bias or dull. "Sin in the Second City" was neither. Karen Abbott offers a broad and informative look into the under-belly of Chicago at the beginning of the 20th century. She paints an exciting picture of the Everleigh sisters, their "club," opposition and other interesting characters.
While I don't want to give anything about the book away I will say that it was a great book and one that I would highly recommend. The descriptions and characters make you feel like you are there. Several times I found myself laughing and at others picking my jaw off the floor. I am sure that you won't regret reading it. I haven't!!!!
Best Period Piece Book Ever August 13, 2008
This is a brilliant book- I am a "period piece" aficianado, and this is the best period piece type book I have ever read, for my money on a par with Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle." -Karen is the rare author willing to take a huge risk in tackling a project that involves a long ago period, with a dearth of available source data, and she knocked the ball out of the park. Being a Chicagoan and generally familiar with the Everleigh sisters ( check out the Chicago Chop House Restaurant for pictures of them on the walls!), I had yearned for a book on them but just assumed it would never ever happen- Her level of research is huge and shows itself throughout the book- That she could bring to such vivid life such a long ago time and place is a very major accomplishment. I have read over 5000+ books, this is one of the best 5 of those I have ever read. Clearly Karen has already established herself as a "name author"; I for one can't wait for her next book. Whatever that may be, hopefully it will be soon.
Fabulous August 11, 2008
I can't say enough good things about this book. Its a history lesson and a decadent trip back to Chicago 100 years ago. Its beautifully written and very exciting to read. I haven't loved reading a book this much in a long time.
 Good Overall August 6, 2008
I really enjoyed this book, discussing a time and a place still fresh to American history. Chicago had a really infamous night life, both terrible and exotic, depending on who's perspective you were reading (there are quite a few, but the madams of the Everleigh club above all). The book could be boring in some spots but easy to digest overall, with very good sources to back up the quotes. If Karen Abbott writes any more books, I'll be sure to pick them up.
 Life in a Sex Factory August 4, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Karen Abbott is a journalist who has written on a subject that is censored from academic history. It is about the exploitation of women who worked in the sex industry. While prostitution is as old as human civilization the organization into national chains (p.123) was new to late 19th century America and a rebuke to the ideals of Puritan America. You can compare this book to the restrained language in Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". There is a 'Bibliography' of references and an 'Index'. The 'Author's Note' tells about a relative who disappeared in Chicago. Stories were told about vanished girls. This book is a work of nonfiction, the characters are all real.
The 'Prologue' tells of the mysterious shooting of Marshall Field Jr. in 1905. Did he shoot himself while "cleaning his gun" or was the gossip true? Where id the phrase "smooth woman" originate (p.xxi)? Where did the story about drinking champagne from a woman's slipper originate (p.xxii)? The population explosion of immigrants changed Chicago. Immigrants created their neighborhoods as havens. Girls weren't safe alone at various entertainments (p.xxiv). The word "resort" was used as a euphemism. So too "cadets" and "friendly friends". [The 1890s saw the worst economic depression of the 19th century, unmentioned here.] This book uses the history of the "Everleigh" sisters to comment on one aspect of life in early 20th century Chicago. There were other such stories in the big cities of America.
In October 1911 a new mayor ordered the Everleigh Club closed. It never reopened. Minna and Ada were threatened with death if they ever talked (p.275). In October 1912 the Grand Jury indicted 135 people who ran the Levee (p.278). The police arrested hundreds (p.281). What was the connection between "the best people in Chicago" and the underworld? Hundreds of harlots began a counter-demonstration in "respectable neighborhoods" (p.282). In November 1914 the police closed the Chicago resorts (p.287). Late in 1915 Mayor "Big Bill" Thompson declared a wide-open town! Hollywood produced films abut the white-slave racket, profiting from exposing evil (p.289). One unforeseen consequence was the agitation for a minimum wage bill (p.290).
When Minna died her death certificate listed her former occupation as "housework" (p.330). This book concentrates on the sisters, Chicago is the back ground. Is there any modern book that covers this topic from 1880 to 1920? Recent stories in the news tell how "dancers" are recruited in Europe and Asia and brought to America to do other work. Local newspapers have advertisements for "massages". What has changed since a century ago? Does politics still drive scientific findings (p.206)?
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