Experts
Karen Abbott
Author
Karen Abbott reads from First Ward Ball. Read More
Abbott is exploring Depression-era New York. Read More
With non-fiction writing, there's always something to write. Read More
Abbott listens to music to get on the right frequency. Read More
Can a historical narrative ever be objective? Read More
Abbott talks about how she could write about such dark materials. Read More
We have a vicarious need to see how far we could go, Abbott says. Read More
Probably, Abbott says. Read More
It would depend, Abbott says, on their class background. Read More
At this point, urbanization was starting to change the social dynamic of courtship, says Abbott. Read More
Legalization would make an unavoidable practice safer. Read More
Abbott describes the turn-of-the-century culture that created the conditions for white slavery. Read More
Will the country ever shed its Puritan origins? Read More
What motivated the social and political reformers in early 20th-century Chicago? Read More
Chicago is still the most theatrically corrupt city, Abbott says. Read More
Abbott's book started with a lost great-great aunt, and ended with an exploration of the Everleigh sisters and the politics of sex in turn-of-the-century Chicago. Read More
Abbott was always drawn to people's darker impulses. Read More
A Catholic school graduate writing about strippers and prostitutes. The nuns, Abbott says, would be proud. Read More
About Karen Abbott
Karen Abbott is a journalist and author of the New York Times bestseller Sin in the Second City, an exploration of the role of brothels in the cultural and political life of turn-of-the-century Chicago. Prior to publishing Sin in the Second City – which took her three years to write and research – Abbott worked for Philadelphia magazine and for Philadelphia Weekly. Abbott, a native of Philadelphia, received her BA from Villanova University in 1995. The critically acclaimed Sin in the Second City tells the story of Chicago’s Everleigh Club, a famous high-end whorehouse that was known as the “finest brothel in the land.” Abbott lives with her husband in Atlanta and is working on her second book, a portrait of Gypsy Rose Lee and Depression-era New York.