A review by blevins
Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott

3.0

Four stars for the debauchery, two for the reformers: equals 3 stars. Karen Abbott was clearly drawn to one part of her story more than the other and it really showed. When writing about the harlots, madams, greedy politicians and others of Chicago's expansive sex and sin district in turn of the 20th century, this was riveting, highly entertaining stuff. When she'd write about the reforming, religious do-gooders...it would grind to a halt. I found myself wanting to skip over those sections and get to the juicy bits about the Everleigh Club, the two sisters who ran it and their empire devoted to the selling of female flesh.