
Sin in the Second City
Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul
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Narrated by:
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Joyce Bean
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By:
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Karen Abbott
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 20th-century modernity.
©2007 Karen Abbott (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















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Everleigh Sisters-ahead of the times for sex workers
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Many of the other reviewers were very harsh. I agree that this felt very unfocused. I understood that the story was told of the sisters chronologically, but I really though that there could have been a stronger theme presented. Perhaps, some artistic license as to describing the characters. Some of the ancillary characters were described in far too great of detail making things very confusing.I mean come on! When you have to have a LIST OF CHARACTERS at the beginning just to keep track of everyone, that should be the first clue that something isn't done well.
Could have told more of a story
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A Losing Battle
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Great book, bad editing for the recording
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As a life long Chicagoan, I have an obsession with my city's history. Initially, I picked up this book out of curiosity. I had heard of the Everleigh Sisters before. However, what surprised me was how moving their story was. How could I feel respect two madames of a brothel? The answer lies in the parallel of womens' oppression during their time, and how women are still held under glass ceilings today. As poor unmarried
women, , these sisters were denied a "respectable "life. They chose to take back their power and profit off the men who would never let them succeed.
I think every woman should read this book , and have conversations about it with every woman she knows. The most important question to ask is: Does society respect women with untraditional lifestyles any better today than in the past? How much pressure does society still put on beauty, landing a husband ,and having children?
Every woman should read this!
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great start
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The other delight of this book is it's narrator Joyce Bean. I'll simply say: I want her to narrate everything I listen to!
Great book - brilliant narrator!
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Runs into tedium towards the end....
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A bit of unknown history
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Interesting History
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