And maybe he’s right. He did indeed live though an interesting time in Chicago’s history, evidenced by the recent surge of literature tracing the era. Not only "Loving Frank" and "Death in a Prairie House" open those doors—Erik Larson’s "The Devil in the White City," of course, is the definitive take on 1890s Chicago, and Karen Abbott’s "Sin in the Second City," about the Everleigh Club, the brothel of brothels, is causing quite a stir this year.