It's a history of the brothels and the battle against vice in Chicago at the turn of the 20th Century. It's pretty fantastic and contains little gems such as the following.
Minna and Ada Everleigh, two of Chicago's most notorious madams, discouraged excessive gambling in their house because men became more interested in gambling than the harlots. Karen Abbot provides this quote from Minna:
"I have watched men, embraced in the arms of the most bewitching sirens in our Club, dump their feminine flesh from their laps for a roll of the dice. If it wasn't unmanly to admit it, they'd rather most of the time gamble than screw."
And, Abbott later details a lecture series that spoke out against vice, with lecture titles such as:
"The Relation Between Modern Social Vice and Ancient Sex Worship"
"How to Elevate the Home Life"
"The Influence of Diet Upon Character"
And, a quote from Dr. Mary Wood-Allen of Ann Arbor condemning the press for "lowering the tone of the human race by ridiculing the sacred process of wooing."
It is also in the Everleigh Club that the trend of drinking champagne from a slipper started, and where the term, "Getting laid" came from. Men used to say they were "getting Everleighed" that night.
Abbott presents the factual events regarding Chicago's salacious history in an engaging way.
More on the book as I continue to read it.
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