About this title: Step into the perfumed parlors of the Everleigh Club, the most famous brothel in American history. Culminating in a dramatic last stand between brothel keepers and crusading reformers, this book presents a vivid snapshot of Americas journey from Victorian-era propriety to 20th-century modernity.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 07/2007
ISBN-13:9781400065301ISBN:1400065305
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 356 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781400065301ISBN:1400065305
Description: Good in Good jacket. 21-Z Ex-library. Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2007
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Unmarked. Tight binding. Like new. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 356 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Random House Inc
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780812975994ISBN:0812975995
Description: Very Good + 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Very-good+, clean condition. NO remainder marks or clippings. Covers are clean (NO tears). Tight spine, bright pages. Illustrated. NO writing, marks or tears inside book. 367 pages. Synopsis Karen Abbotta (TM) s colorful, nuanced portrait of the iconic Everleigh sisters; their world-famous brothel, the Everleigh Club; and the perennial clash between our nation's hedonistic impulses and Puritanical roots culminates in a dramatic last stand between brothel ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Date Published: 2008-06-10
ISBN-13:9780812975994ISBN:0812975995
Description: New. Book is Brand New, Gift condition. Free tracking # included! International buyers are welcome. We ship every business day. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Date Published: 2008-06-10
ISBN-13:9780812975994ISBN:0812975995
Description: New. Book is Brand New, Gift condition. Free tracking # included! International buyers are welcome. We ship every business day. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Date Published: 2008-06-10
ISBN-13:9780812975994ISBN:0812975995
Description: New. Book is Brand New, Gift condition. Free tracking # included! International buyers are welcome. We ship every business day. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Date Published: 2008-06-10
ISBN-13:9780812975994ISBN:0812975995
Description: New. Book is Brand New, Gift condition. Free tracking # included! International buyers are welcome. We ship every business day. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Date Published: 2008-06-10
ISBN-13:9780812975994ISBN:0812975995
Description: New. Book is Brand New, Gift condition. Free tracking # included! International buyers are welcome. We ship every business day. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
"Comparing this book to "Devil in the White City" is really the only way that "Sin in the Second City" will come up short. I almost wish I'd read this one first.
LOT'S of great tidbits about brothel-life in Chigago in the early 1900's. Minna and Ada, the proprieters (madams) of the Everleigh Club, were WAY ahead of their time in deciding that an upscale environment + employeees who were treated well (clean, healthy, and VERY well-paid) + not allowing your customers to be robbed, murdered, or diseased = an all-around classy AND profitable establishment. The problem was that the Everleigh Club, by its very nature, was still part an industry that spread disease and kept women in a degrading environment, usually until they died. And no matter HOW badly the reformers lied and drummed up the whole "White Slavery" hysteria, such things DID happen. I don't know if there would have been any way to allow places like the Everleigh Club without allowing all the lesser organizations associated with it.
I'm afraid I was a little bored with the sections about the Reformers, mostly because I didn't have much sympathy for them. Abbott does a good job of showing how well-meaning people could become so frustrated with a state-accepted evil, that they end up resorting to exaggerations, media-hysteria, and outright lies to get their way. So they got the Everleigh Club shut down. Yay. Ask yourself if things have gotten any better since then?"
"this book was ok, but honestly i was expecting a little bit more. Abbot was working with such a great subject with so much potential for dramatic ambiguities and yet all the 'characters' just came across as totally one-dimensional.
there was next to nothing on the seemingly germane topics of contraception, abortion and pregnancy, which i found strange.
ultimately i felt like she used the whole 'novel/historical work' genre thing as an excuse to not have to draw any conclusions about what she must have spent years researching. she just tells us "well, there were these women who lied about their age and tried to make prostitution classier, but it didn't really work out, the end." maybe she thought the analytical conclusions were self evident from the narrative she presented, but i could have used a little more musing.
there were a lot of good things about the book too, though. i do feel like i know more about prostitution in american cities in the early twentieth century, which is not a topic that historians have been looking at that closely for long. also i thought she did a really good job of profiling the moral crusaders."
"OK, I'm amazed at how much I enjoyed this book. So much incredible detail (some of it pretty raw, but interesting nonetheless) on the lives of prostitutes at the turn of the century (the previous century). This book is so well researched and detailed. Based on author Karen Abbottt's descriptions, you can really picture the people who populate the book: the harlots, the madams, the ward bosses, the career politicians and prosecutors, and the religious zealots who make up the cast of (real life) characters. It's a fascinating book about a world shrouded in mystery and myth.
I especially appreciated the real-life details from the "girls" themselves. How did they take care of themselves? What did being a prostitute during this era entail? The answers might surprise you (it surprised me!) I read this for my book club and I was very pleased to discover that we had previously read a novel by Theodore Dreiser who knew the madams profiled in this book and wrote a novel, "Sister Carrie" about a girl who lived in Chicago during this time and had some experience with white slavery. So, if you enjoy "Sin in the Second City" you might want to read "Sister Carrie" too."
"This is the colorful story of the Everleigh House - the most famous brothel in Chicago's history. The story is set during the early years of the 20th century. Sisters Ada and Minna Everleigh are the madams who run the internationally famous house where there were perfume fountains, a gold piano, expensive paintings and art, and themed rooms (oriental, Turkish, etc.). The Everleighs set high standards for their girls - and commanded high prices from their clients. The book also puts a spotlight on the seedy Levee district on the south side of Chicago where the vice district was segregated at the time. Corrupt politicians and police looked the other way and accepted bribes and protection money to keep things running. Rival madams tried to put the Everleighs out of business - even going so far as to try to implicate them in murder. The book also tells the story of the ministers and activists who worked at the time to combat white slavery and close down the Levee district. The author wrote the book as a way of exploring what might have happened to a female relative during that period who came to the city and disappeared - was she one of the victims of the sex industry? It's an eye-opening story about the corruption in Chicago at the time, and a window into the "sporting life" of prostitutes."
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