<p>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 notoriousLevee district at the dawn of the last century, the Club's proprietors, two aristocratic sisters named Minna and Ada Everleigh, welcomed moguls and actors, senators and athletes, foreign dignitaries and literaryicons, 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 ofPrince 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 Everleighsmade sure their girls dined on gourmet food, were examined by an honest physician, and even tutored in the literature of Balzac. Not everyone appreciated the sisters' attempts to elevate theindustry. 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 werethe 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 forcingthem into brothels. This furor shaped America's sexual culture and had repercussions all the way to the White House, including the formation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. With a castof 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 betweenbrothel keepers and crusading reformers, "Sin in the Second City" offers a vivid snapshot of America's journey from Victorian-era propriety to twentieth-centurymodernity. Visit www.sininthesecondcity.com to learn more Praise for "Sin in the Second City: ""Assiduouslyresearched... "Sin in the Second City"] describes a popular culture awash in wild tales of sexual abuse, crusading reformers claiming God on their side, and deep suspicion of the threat posed by"foreigners" to the nation's Christian values." ---Janet Maslin, "The New York Times""Lavish in her details, nicely detached in her point of view, and with] scrupulous concern for historical accuracy, Ms. Abbott has written an immensely readable book. "Sinin the Second City" offers much in the way of reflection for those interested in the unending puzzle that goes by the name of human nature." - "TheWall Street Journal "" ""Abbott's first book is meticulously researched and entertaining... a colorful history of old Chicago that reads like anovel." ---The Atlanta Journal Constitution "With gleaming prose and authoritative knowledge Abbott elucidates one of the most colorful periodsin American history, and the result reads like the very best fiction. Sex</p>

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