Experts
Karen Abbott
Author
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Karen Abbott reads from First Ward Ball,
Karen Abbott reads from First Ward Ball. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In Arts & Culture
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Abbott is exploring Depression-era New York. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In Arts & Culture
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How do you get past writer's block?
With non-fiction writing, there's always something to write. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In Arts & Culture
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What is your creative process?
Abbott listens to music to get on the right frequency. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In Arts & Culture
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Can a historical narrative ever be objective? Read More
March 12, 2008 | In History
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Abbott talks about how she could write about such dark materials. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In Arts & Culture
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Why are we so fascinated by the underworld?
We have a vicarious need to see how far we could go, Abbott says. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In Arts & Culture
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Re: Will city governments always be corrupt?
Probably, Abbott says. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In Politics & Policy
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Was Victorian society more invested in its girls?
It would depend, Abbott says, on their class background. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In History
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How has feminine sexuality changed since the Victorian era?
At this point, urbanization was starting to change the social dynamic of courtship, says Abbott. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In History
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Karen Abbott on Legalized Prostitution
Legalization would make an unavoidable practice safer. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In Arts & Culture
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Abbott describes the turn-of-the-century culture that created the conditions for white slavery. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In History
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Will the country ever shed its Puritan origins? Read More
March 12, 2008 | In Politics & Policy
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Social Reformers in the Early 20th Century
What motivated the social and political reformers in early 20th-century Chicago? Read More
March 12, 2008 | In History
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Has Chicago changed since the turn of the 20th century?
Chicago is still the most theatrically corrupt city, Abbott says. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In History
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Sin in the Second City and Turn-of-the-Century Sexual Power Dynamics
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
March 12, 2008 | In Arts & Culture
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Abbott was always drawn to people's darker impulses. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In History
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A Catholic school graduate writing about strippers and prostitutes. The nuns, Abbott says, would be proud. Read More
March 12, 2008 | In Identity
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.
