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jilligin's review
2.0
It doesn’t usually take me over a month to read a book. It just was too dry considering the super interesting subject matter. It was a struggle to stay interested and finish.
maiello13's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this. Lots of interesting facts about early 1900s Chicago, brothels and the vice district. At times I felt it jumped around and I was a bit confused, but for a first book - very well done!
traceyelder's review
3.0
Interesting read based on real people/events in Chicago. Dragged on a bit too long due to too much detail. Worth reading though, if you like books in the vein of Erik Larsen's.
angeluslorelei's review against another edition
2.0
"Sin in the Second City" is labeled as a work of nonfiction. However I found the research and writing trite and a little to narrative.
The book is divvied up as a chapter following the Everleigh sisters then a chapter following the ministers and politicians who hoped to shut down the vice district. Though the book contained a nice collection of primary sources (photos, letters, and prints from periodicals), Karen Abbott was a little too narrative. She enjoyed inventing scenarios and situations that we cannot possibly have known about. For example, we cannot know what the Everleigh sisters thought in "x" situation. We can only know what they did.
I also found the jumps between the sisters and the ministers extremely jarring. It was difficult to follow at times. I also found myself not caring very much about certain people as a result. I just wanted to skip ahead to get back to the person I was just reading about.
All in all, a nice effort but not worth a reread.
The book is divvied up as a chapter following the Everleigh sisters then a chapter following the ministers and politicians who hoped to shut down the vice district. Though the book contained a nice collection of primary sources (photos, letters, and prints from periodicals), Karen Abbott was a little too narrative. She enjoyed inventing scenarios and situations that we cannot possibly have known about. For example, we cannot know what the Everleigh sisters thought in "x" situation. We can only know what they did.
I also found the jumps between the sisters and the ministers extremely jarring. It was difficult to follow at times. I also found myself not caring very much about certain people as a result. I just wanted to skip ahead to get back to the person I was just reading about.
All in all, a nice effort but not worth a reread.
sarahanne8382's review
3.0
A fascinating look at the most famous brothel in Chicago's history, The Everleigh Club. Abbott tries as best she can to lay out the enigmatic past of the notorious madames, Minna and Ada Everleigh and what led them to create their famous house in the South Loop's Levee District. As the book goes on to discuss the club's heyday, it also explains larger societal forces, including the growing crusade against white slavery, at the time, which led to the club's eventual downfall.
As much as I would be interested in such books, I really haven't read much about Chicago's fascinating, often tawdry past. Maybe now I'll finally get around to it.
As much as I would be interested in such books, I really haven't read much about Chicago's fascinating, often tawdry past. Maybe now I'll finally get around to it.
duparker's review
4.0
Probably a 3.5, rounded up. This is a well written and interesting look at brothels in Chicago in the late 1800s. The imagery, both in the text itself, and the pictures provided, is very vivid and really keeps what could be a quick story, afloat. I enjoyed the interplay of politics and morals, as well as the historical look at the times. The intricate nature of the brothel and the cultural changes occurring in Chicago and the US were really interesting, and presented in both a matter of fact way, as well as in an interesting and progressive narrative.
mkaybaker07's review
3.0
It was good, I just really couldn't care less about the Gilded Age at this point.