Sin in The Second City

I had a snow day (more precisely an icy road day) so I used it to read a book that's off my usual path of thieves. I'm glad that I picked Karen Abbot's Sin in the Second City. It's a fun, fast paced read. I was surprised it was so enjoyable. Probably because the stars of the books are the self named Everleigh sisters Mina and Ada. Prostitution has never been an easy job for it's workers particularly in earlier periods when abuse and other degradation were thought their due as "fallen women". According to Abbot, the Everleigh sisters not only ran the most exclusive brothel in Chicago's Levee district. The two were enlightened pimps who ran a humane brothel. Decent pay for the workers, decent working conditions (hey they even had medical) no brothel enforcer to keep the women in line. And all women had to prove they were over the age of 18. Hey this at a time when it was not unusual to find young teen 'working girls' and not unusual for them to be sold into the position.

Abbot takes readers through the Levee district in Chicago. Readers see the outrageous characters, political, criminal, and religious. She gets as far as anyone can in explaining the Everleigh sisters past. The book is salacious, informative, and well written. I couldn't put it down yesterday and I'm glad I picked it up.

NYC VICE

I wanted a really good book to read after all that studying and Ellen Poulsen's the Case Against Lucky Luciano hit the spot.

This book is not an homage to Charles Lucky Luciano (thank God); it's an analysis of the vice trials that finally convicted him. The central players in the book are the madame's ,prostitutes and bookers who acted as material witnesses and the prosecution's methods of obtaining witnesses and material.

Prostitution is an old story and I really didn't think this book was going to shed any new insights on it's history in the US. I was wrong. The start of the book details a racket in setting up innocent women to be charged with prostitution that was carried on with cooperation from police officers, bailsman, and judges. The book shows how Luciano's racket wasn't simply owning a house; he essentially saw that the money was in making the workers pay for protection against being jailed. He found a way to make the protection racket apply to Prostitution. Madame's and prostitutes were used to paying off police, janitors, cab drivers, etc to steer in business and look the other way; no one had ever made them pay insurance against getting arrested and making bail. A super pimp to make a bad situation worse.

It's a fast read but with great details. Poulsen sums up the trial, the convictions, and the attempt of the 2 main material witnesses to go straight and Luciano's war effort. Buy the book it's new and easy to find.