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Sin in the Second City
- Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
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Publisher's summary
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.
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Story
It was an explosion that reverberated across the country—and into the very heart of early-twentieth-century America. On the morning of October 1, 1910, the walls of the Los Angeles Times Building buckled as a thunderous detonation sent men, machinery, and mortar rocketing into the night air. When at last the wreckage had been sifted and the hospital triage units consulted, twenty-one people were declared dead and dozens more injured. But as it turned out, this was just a prelude to the devastation that was to come.
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very interesting popular history
- By D. Littman on 11-28-08
By: Howard Blum
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The Girls of Murder City
- Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago
- By: Douglas Perry
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Chicago, 1924. There was nothing surprising about men turning up dead in the Second City. Life was cheaper than a quart of illicit gin in the gangland capital of the world. But two murders that spring were special - worthy of celebration. So believed Maurine Watkins, a wanna-be playwright and a "girl reporter" for the Chicago Tribune, the city's "hanging paper".
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Some books should be read
- By zoomcity on 07-31-11
By: Douglas Perry
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Where You End
- A Novel
- By: Abbott Kahler
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing, Samantha Desz
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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When Kat Bird wakes up from a coma, she sees her mirror image: Jude, her twin sister. Jude’s face and name are the only memories Kat has from before her accident. As Kat tries to make sense of things, she believes Jude will provide all the answers to her most pressing questions. Amid this tragedy, Jude sees an irresistible opportunity: she can give her sister a brand-new past, one worlds away from the lives they actually led. She spins tales of an idyllic childhood, exotic travels, and a bright future. But if everything was so perfect, who are the mysterious people following Kat?
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It's just okay - a bit odd and hard to like
- By Cathy S on 01-25-24
By: Abbott Kahler
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Tinseltown
- Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
- By: William J. Mann
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America's new favorite pastime and one of the nation's largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence; yet Hollywood's glittering ascendancy was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies - including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
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Everybody's a dreamer...
- By Steven on 01-08-15
By: William J. Mann
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The Ascent
- By: Adam Plantinga
- Narrated by: Charles Halford, Christine Lakin
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Kurt Argento, an ex-Detroit street cop who can’t let injustice go—and who has the fighting skills to back up his idealism. If he sees a young girl being dragged into an alley, he's going to rescue her and cause some damage. When he does just that in a small corrupt Missouri town, he’s brutally beaten and thrown into a maximum-security prison. Julie Wakefield, a grad student who happens to be the governor's daughter, is about to take a tour of the prison. But when a malfunction in the security system releases a horde of prisoners, a fierce struggle for survival ensues.
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Really hoping this book becomes a series!
- By John on 01-05-24
By: Adam Plantinga
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The Spy and the Traitor
- The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War
- By: Ben Macintyre
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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If anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. The son of two KGB agents and the product of the best Soviet institutions, the savvy, sophisticated Gordievsky grew to see his nation's communism as both criminal and philistine. He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Union's top man in London, but from 1973 on he was secretly working for MI6.
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John Lee is GREAT!
- By David on 09-21-18
By: Ben Macintyre
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The Storyteller
- By: Jodi Picoult
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Jennifer Ikeda, Edoardo Ballerini, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Jodi Picoult's poignant number one New York Times best-selling novels about family and love tackle hot-button issues head on. In The Storyteller, Sage Singer befriends Josef Weber, a beloved Little League coach and retired teacher. But then Josef asks Sage for a favor she never could have imagined - to kill him. After Josef reveals the heinous act he committed, Sage feels he may deserve that fate. But would his death be murder or justice?
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The Baker, The Nun, The Virgin and The Monster
- By Suzn F on 03-05-13
By: Jodi Picoult
What listeners say about Sin in the Second City
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Devin Shughart
- 07-09-13
A Losing Battle
This was a very good book, I wasn't fully prepared for the depth of human trafficking that came with it. Not knowing the long and hard to believe history that America had with what was called "white slavery" the sale of young women to brothels and pimps. I am very interested in Chicago's history and there is a lot of it here. I recommend this book for sure, but be warned that there were some horrible things going on at the turn of the century and that it is all covered here. As far as the performance, I felt that it was a very good reading, not one of my favorites but good none the less.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Jenifer
- 05-09-13
Could have told more of a story
Any additional comments?
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.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Z. Halley
- 04-17-10
Great book - brilliant narrator!
Ms. Abbott's history of this little niche in Chicago's history and an important step in the take over of the politics by the religious right makes this book interesting beyond just the salacious subject matter. She handles the story with the class and wit that would make the Everyleigh sisters proud.
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!
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9 people found this helpful
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- Anna Glowacki
- 12-08-15
Every woman should read this!
This is my favorite book ever . Karen Abbott not only connected me to her antagonists. She also made me ask myself a lot of questions on feminism. What does it truly mean to survive in a man's world?
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?
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6 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-23-16
great start
book started out amazing. writing moved the story forwarded quickly. about 1/2 way through the detail overtook the interest
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- Kathleen McKinney
- 10-25-11
Runs into tedium towards the end....
This book started out to be interesting but as it wore on, it just got tedious. The author follows up so you know what happened to everybody & the fact that it is history & not fiction kept me listening. It was like the author was told the book needed more length, and she padded the story. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't have used a credit. The narrator has a rather abrasive voice that I got tired listening to. She does continually call the ladies who are the center of the story "harlots" so much that it made me laugh. The facts are told without being vulgar (I didn't think so anyway) but I was surprised the story wasn't a little more lively. I liked the movie "Cheyenne Social Club"-this book is nothing like that.
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- Wendy
- 03-12-22
A bit of unknown history
I am fond of this author and writing style.. This was a very interesting story. I had never heard of the levee district in Chicago or this famous brothel. I suppose brothel is a bit harsh but accurate.
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- Theresa
- 01-27-23
Interesting History
Interesting, but not as good as Devil in the White City. At times, it was dry and long.
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- The Louligan
- 12-27-13
LOVED IT!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, I d recommend this book. It moved along in an interesting informative way.
What other book might you compare Sin in the Second City to and why?
Maybe Erik Larkin's "Devil In The White City" - not because the story lines are similar but because of the wealth of historical information on that period in Ameican general history, in addition to the annals of the crime of that era.
Have you listened to any of Joyce Bean’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Joyce Bean has always been a great narrator. The only comparison is that each performance is consistent so that the reader always knows what to expect.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
"Women Should Never Broke Since They Are Sitting On Their Payckecks!"
Any additional comments?
A well-written and researched book about two women who parlayed and raised the "world's oldest profession" to a dizzying height. Well done, Divas! 😎
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2 people found this helpful
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- P K Hill
- 10-18-20
I wish I could buy the film rights
The way that Karen Abbott can dig up the tiniest pieces of information and assemble them into a beautiful storyline mosaic is a rare gift. I enjoy the overarching storyline a lot more when an author like her or Erik Larson can make me feel like I’m in that time and close to the characters. This story of the Everleigh sisters would make a great movie and an interesting case study for MBA’s.
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