Brothels, Bordellos, and Bad Girls

Prostitution in Colorado, 1860-1930

By: Jan Mackell

Narrated by: Laura Jennings

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Prostitution thrived in pioneer Colorado. Mining was the principal occupation and men outnumbered women more than twenty to one. Jan MacKell provides a detailed overview of the business between 1860 and 1930, focusing her research on the mining towns of Cripple Creek, Salida, Colorado City, and similar boomtown communities. She used census data, Sanborn maps, city directories, property records, marriage records, and court records to document and trace the movements of the women over the course of their careers, uncovering work histories, medical problems, and numerous relocations from town to town. She traces many to their graves, through years filled with abuse, disease, narcotics, and violence.

The book is published by University of New Mexico Press.

©2004 University of New Mexico Press (P)2013 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic Reviews

"Delicacy, humor, respect, and compassion are among the merits of this book. Although other authors have flirted with Colorado's commercial sex, Jan MacKell provides a detailed overview. She has been researching these elusive women for the last fifteen years. Such persistence allows her to offer rich detail on shady ladies who rarely used their real names or even stuck with the same professional name for long." (Thomas J. Noel, from the Introduction)

"The topic is interesting, the author knowledgeable, the presentation nonjudgmental...All sorts of interesting facts pop up in this work." ( USA Today)

"Now this is a book you can read in one sitting. Not that it is less than scholarly; it is comprehensive, extensively researched, well organized, well written, but most of all it is readable. In fact, it is compelling. Brothels, Bordellos, & Bad Girls is a fascinating book because it puts a human face on prostitution." ( Roundup Magazine)

almost computerized narration

I'm still listening, but the narration is really mechanized To the point that a few sentences are hard to understand because the inflection doesn't make sense. It just makes it hard to be interested in the story.

Ruined by narrator.

This could have and should have been a great book. I thought it would go into the lives of some of the women, but instead it's just about their lifestyle. There are so many great stories about the women of those days, I can't figure out why the author didn't tell them. The narrator is horrible! She talks so fast, it made me out and o f breath just listening. Too bad that a great subject was written and narrated so poorly.

Surprising!

This is a really fascinating book, apparently very well researched, well-written, and very entertaining as well. It's a shame that the reader doesn't seem to understand the significance of paragraphs in written English. She spaces every sentence in the book exactly the same distance for the previous one regardless whether the ideas in them are connected in any way whatsoever. It's VERY distracting from a history that deserves much better. The book is worth putting up with the shortcomings of the performance, anyway.

For Colorado Enthusiasts!

If you enjoy hearing about Colorado's history with this subject this is definitely the book for you. Has interesting highlights of way of life, fashion, moral standards, the "food chain" so to speak of Bordellos and brothels. Very interesting to hear the names chosen by the women themselves.
Really a very superficial overview of the police records of the time involving these women and their clients and their pimps. would be nice if it had more of a story line versus just facts investigated thru police records and old photos. (my assumption of course).
The narration was very monotonous and straight to the point. Making it tolerable but uninteresting. again my opinion.
Great timeline to follow but just not enough story to it.

Informational, but lacks structure

overall ok book on subject. repeats inormation through out book. 1st half of book not well organized and bounces around with no clear structure.

Hard work

I found it a bit of a dull listen. The tale was dry and the tone academic. Lots of facts, names and places - fine as a work of reference but for me it did not work that well as an audio experience. I did find many of the story features interesting, the gold rush, the rush from al over America to mine, the hardship and the coming of prohibition. Perhaps more thematic analysis would have contributed