About the Author

Paul Goalby Cressey (1900-1955) was a social scientist in the University of Chicago's Department of Sociology.

Reviews

"This is perhaps my Ur book, a combination guaranteed to satisfy both my Cornell Woolrich induced taxi-hall obsession and my jones for gritty ethnography. . . . An unflinching, keenly observed portrait of the Chicago tax-dance hall circa 1928. Via extensive case studies, interviews, and even historical, economic and geographic analysis, [Cressey] captures the personality of the customers and dancers and the atmosphere of their noirish milieu. . . . This is the real noir."--John Marr "Murder Can Be Fun"