Last week I also finished reading Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul, by Karen Abbott. A book titled like this, how could I resist reading it? It's a history of the infamous red light district in Chicago at the turn of the century, a saga of dirty politicians, self-righteous pastors, harlots, and, in short, all the stuff that has made America great!
Now, this was a compelling story. I loved it. The book takes the reader inside the infamous Everleigh Club--Chicago's largest and world-famous brothel at the turn of the century. There were also a couple of Methodist pastors involved in the mix (trying to close the brothel) and some really sleazy politicians (thank God, we don't have sleazy politicians anymore!!!) who wanted to keep the red light district going so they could pad their pockets.
This book was one of the most fascinating I have read this year. So that's what I need: more books about brothels. Made me also want to meet a few of these politicians: guys with slick names like Hinky Dink Kenna and Big John Calusimo. I'd love for people to call me Hinky Dink. And tonight, I'm going to start calling my wife "Big Maude". I'll just see where that takes me!
No comments:
Post a Comment