Overview

"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 twentieth 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 were 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. 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."

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9798200142019

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Reviews

"Sin in the Second City is a masterful history lesson, a harrowing biography, and---best of all---a superfun read.... I can't recommend this book loudly enough.-- ""Darin Strauss, author of Chang and Eng"" ""A colorful history of old Chicago that reads like a novel...A compelling and eloquent story."" -- ""Atlanta Journal-Constitution"" ""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."" -- ""Wall Street Journal"""

Author Information

Karen Abbott is a journalist who has been a staff member of Philadelphia magazine and Philadelphia Weekly. Her work has also appeared on salon.com and in other publications. A native of Philadelphia, she now lives with her husband in Atlanta. Joyce Bean is an accomplished audiobook narrator and director. In addition to having won several AudioFile Earphones Awards, she has been nominated multiple times for the prestigious Audie Award. Equally adept at narrating fiction and nonfiction, and she also narrates audiobooks under the name Jane Brown.

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