Sin in the Second City

Posted on 27 October 2017 by Karen Abbott

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 Barry, 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. Best Download Sin in the Second City By Karen Abbott For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Instagram Twitter FacebookPinterestGet ready to clutch your pearls, because this tawdry piece of history is something you didn t learn in high school SIN IN THE SECOND CITY, in case its title wasn t warning enough, is about prostitution in turn of the century Chicago, specifically the Everleigh Club, which was a brothel run by two gently bred sisters, Minna and Aida Everleigh.One of the criticisms of this book is that the author, Karen Abbott, takes a lot of liberties with Instagram Twitter FacebookPinterestGet ready to clutch your pearls, because this tawdry piece of history is something you didn t learn in high school SIN IN THE SECOND CITY, in case its title wasn t warning enough, is about prostitution in turn of the century Chicago, specifically the Everleigh Club, which was a brothel run by two gently bred sisters, Min...As a general rule of thumb, I like all books about Chicago history because there s really no way to go wrong with tales about our city So I d been wanting to read this book since it was released, and finally, my most excellent book club the Literary Brats got down to it.So I also think you d really have to screw up to write a bad book about Chicago history This book is about professional screwing and Karen Abbott is some screwball kinda writer How difficult is it to write a great book about s As a general rule of thumb, I like all books about Chicago history because there s really no way to go wrong with tales about our city So I d been wanting to read this book since it was released, and finally, my most excellent book club the Literary Brats got down to it.So I also think you d really have to screw up to write a bad book about Chicago history This book is about professional screwi...I want to stress that this is a work of nonfiction every character I describe lived and breathed, if not necessarily thrived, on the Levee s mean streets, writes author Karen Abbott in her introduction.What immediately bothered me about the book, though, was the extent to which Karen Abbott took liberties to fictionalize her non fiction, adding window dressing and drapery to an already rich tapestry of research material.Take this section, for instance It s going to be difficult, at first, I want to stress that this is a work of nonfiction every character I describe lived and breathed, if not necessarily thrived, on the Levee s mean streets, writes author Karen Abbott in her introduction.What immediately bothered me about the book, though, was the extent to which Karen Abbott took liberties to fictionalize her non fiction, adding window dressing and drapery to an already rich tapestry of research material.Take this section, for instance It s going to be difficult, at first, I know, Minna continued She walked slowly up and down the line, a commander instructing her troops, arms folded, heels clacking I found this style irritating and distracting It made me doubt Abbott s usage of...In the winter of 1899, a train clattered toward Chicago, fat coils of smoke whipping the sky Minna and Ada Everleigh sat together in a Pullman Palace car, sipping wine served by porters in white jackets and gloves The air inside the car hung heavy and whisper quiet, but the sisters were restless, giddy with plans they would build upon what they had learned as madams in Omaha, Nebraska, and create the finest brothel in history Man, who doesn t love a good old timey hooker story Karen Abb In the winter of 1899, a train clattered toward Chicago, fat coils of smoke whipping the sky Minna and Ada Everleigh sat together in a Pullman Palace car, sipping wine served by porters in white jackets and gloves The air inside the car hung heavy and whisper quiet, but the sisters were restless, giddy with plans they would build upon what they had learned as madams in Omaha, Nebraska, and create the finest brothel in history Man, who doesn t love a g...I read the author s Liar, Temptress, Soldier,Spy and really enjoyed the historical profiles So when I saw this at a book sale I snapped it up A decadent exploration of the seedy side of 1890s Chicago, Sin in the Second City delves in to the Mann Act, white slavery reformers and the puerile highlights of life in a den of inequity The Eve...It s hard to believe that there was a time in American history where many of the major cities not only had open brothels but whole districts devoted to them Prostitution was a business, and a flourishing one at that One brothel in particular, the Everleigh Club in Chicago during the turn of the century, is the fascinating subject of Karen Abbot s book, Sin in the Second City The Everleigh sisters, Minna and Ada, were the famous madams of this brothel It was so well known and popular that t It s hard to believe that there was a time in American history where many of the major cities not only had open brothels but whole districts devoted to them Prostitution was a business, and a flourishing one at that One brothel in particular, the Everleigh Club in Chicago during the turn of the century, is the fascinating subject of Karen Abbot s book, Sin in the Second City The Everleigh sisters, Minna and Ada, were the famous madams of this brothel It was so well known and popular that there was a waiting list of prostitutes hoping to become one of the Everleigh girls Cultivating strong political relationships with many figures in local and federal government, enforcing strict rules and regulations for both the working girls and patrons of their establ...Oh I wanted this book to be so muchthan it was The story of the Everleigh sisters, along with Bathhouse John and Hinky Dick, is such a colorful one in the City of Chicago Yet this book makes it almost not quite boring Too much jumping around in time and storylines It just didn t come together If the data is so limited, this s...In Sin in the Second City Karen Abbott tells us in her subtitle that the book is ultimately about the Battle for America s Soul Pretty heady I suppose that the battle still persists to this day, so I shouldn t have expected a victor in the book itself, yet was left feeling unsatisfied at not even having a side to root for Abbott seemingly couldn t decide if she was writing a slice of life about Chicago s vice district at the turn of the century, a profile of two successful sisters running In Sin in the Second City Karen Abbott tells us in her subtitle that the book is ultimately about the Battle for America s Soul Pretty heady I suppose that the battle still persists to this day, so I shouldn t have expected a victor in the book itself, yet was left feeling unsatisfied at not even having a side to root for Abbott seemingly couldn t decide if she was writing a slice of life about Chicago s vice district at the turn of the century, a profile of two successful sisters running a posh brothel, or a narrative history of the battle between reformers and vice lords Elements of all three different books come to the fore at different times in the relatively scant 300 pages of text, with no one tack prevailing I never felt that I had a satisfying level of detail about the Levee the infamous vice district or a real grasp of the tale of Ada and Minna Everleigh the sister proprietors of the in...3.5 stars Hookers, graft and corruption in early 1900s Chicago you had me at hookers This felt similar to Devil in the White City except no serial killer sorry killer lovers just the political and religious battles surrounding prostitution Sounds like Chicago was hellainteresting back in the day, although yes, stinkier dirtier and disease riddled, and likelyprone to disfiguring industrial type accidents Still, I d go back in my time capsule to check it out, and I would de 3.5 stars Hookers, graft and corruption in early 1900s Chicago you had me at hookers ...Karen Abbott offers a popular history of perhaps the most famous sporting house in Chicago The Everleigh Club It is a fun read however the lack of footnotes makes it of limited value for academics The book does include a bibliography at the end Some readers may also be put off by ...

English
27 October 2017

Karen Abbott