The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

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The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

by Erik Larson (Goodreads Author), Tony Goldwyn (Narrator)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 161,668 ratings · 14,973 reviews

Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that 'The Devil in the White City' is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction,...more

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Published February 11th 2003 by RH Audio (first published October 17th 2002)

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Oct 03, 2012 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for-kindle, wine-club, 2012, reviewed

This book is two, two, two books in one!

Sorry, that was annoying. But it’s almost as if Erik Larson wrote two really short books—one about the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and another about the murder spree of Dr. H. H. Holmes—and then shoved them together to create a single story. The result isn’t bad, and I think Larson is successful at maintaining clean seams between the two narratives, but it’s hard to argue these two occurrences are anything but abstractedly related. Yes, Holmes lived...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Seth Hahne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone, really

Humour me and please allow the channeling an eighth grader for just a moment. OMG Squeee!!1 Teh best!! (Would an eighth grader say "teh best"?) And now we return you to our regularly scheduled review.

I'm not a huge fan of non-fiction. Scratch that. I'm a huge fan of non-fiction, but not so huge a fan of reading non-fiction. While I appreciate learning and broadening my understanding of the world around and as it once was, I find myself pretty quickly distracted from whatever non-fictional work I...more

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Apr 07, 2008 James rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

Heard the one about the architect and the serial killer? It's not a bad joke, but it is a great book. The architect was Daniel Burnham, the driving force behind the Chicago World's Fair of 1893; the killer was H.H. Holmes, a Svengali-type figure who lured young women to his hotel and did the most gruesome things, the least shocking of which was murder. The two men never met, but The Devil in the White City brings their stories together, and although it reads like a novel, everything is thoroughl...more

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Aug 28, 2007 Jude rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: pretty much everyone.

My daily life is filled with non-fiction: facts that are collected to give information quickly and easily to a reader. When I read for enjoyment, I usually gravitate toward fiction.

I didn't realize this book was non-fiction when I bought it. I bought it because it came recommended from Katie, who has good book taste and hasn't steered me down the wrong path yet. When I read the back cover before beginning, I thought: what the hell did I get myself into?

Surprisingly, I found myself immediately h...more

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Aug 19, 2007 Kristy rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

Ohhhh, this book is creeeeeepy and all-true!!! Being from Chicago I was in an awful thrall the entire time. The only thing that was missing for me would have been some kind of map to show where exactly the Fair was located, and all the other buildings he talks about... I think the fair was probably located roughly on what the Museum Campus is now, but I still would like to see a map.

And the people! Burnham and Root and Atwood... and Carter Henry Harrison! It says his mansion was on Ashland, I'm...more Ohhhh, this book is creeeeeepy and all-true!!! Being from Chicago I was in an awful thrall the entire time. The only thing that was missing for me would have been some kind of map to show where exactly the Fair was located, and all the other buildings he talks about... I think the fair was probably located roughly on what the Museum Campus is now, but I still would like to see a map.

And the people! Burnham and Root and Atwood... and Carter Henry Harrison! It says his mansion was on Ashland, I'm wondering exactly where. And Mudgett... I wonder where all of his buildings were... it sends chills up my spine just to think about it. I wonder if anyone has put together a tourist's map based on this book?

O.K., beyond my personal reasons for being fascinated, the writing is excellent, and really well documented. And the charming thing is that he documented everything in the back of the book in a really simple way, so if you were so inclined you would not have to be a big fancy scholar to follow his paper trail and see all of this stuff for yourself. Power to the people!

And the writing style is accessible and the voice is also very appropriate... he kind of veers between eulogist and undertaker. And the few times that he takes liberties and describes things that no one could ever really possibly have documented, he does so in a way that is careful and responsible. And I think for him not to have taken the liberties would have been a mistake... I think everyone who read the book would have thought there was something missing.

And what's ultimately really rewarding about this book is that the author outlines all the ways in which the influences of Fair of 1893 reverberated in American culture (and the world) for years afterward. Our aesthetic sensibility as a nation was permanently changed. And our technological sensibility. And to think that all of this was planned so fast, it was like a supernova in the middle of this underdeveloped backwater (oh, I said it. I live here now, and sometimes I still think of Chicago that way.). And that with all that progress comes this darkness, too, there's this underside to everything.

And with that lovely thought, I'm going to try and find the Wooded Island. Ciao!(less)

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Sep 27, 2008 Danielle rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, did-not-finish

So, no offense to those that liked this book, but I'm throwing in the towel after 75 pages. It's just not holding my interest. Part of the reason for this is that Larson's writing style is way too speculative for my taste in non-fiction. I just finished reading the Path Between Seas by David McCullough, and he does such an amazing job of making complicated, historical events interesting, without fabricating scenes that "could have" happened. Even that wouldn't have bothered me that much if Lars...more

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Aug 02, 2008 David Monroe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-to-re-read, non-fiction, mystery

I read this book in 2005 as a library book after I saw it won the Edgar Award for best Best Fact Crime the year before. I own a copy, I re-read it last year.

My fascination with the World's Columbian Exhibition (1893 Chicago World's Fair) began when I went to work for the President Benjamin Harrison Home. Harrison, as President, commissioned the Fair. A formality really. The Fair began as a 400th Anniversary Celebration of Columbus landing in the Americas. It soon grew beyond that. Harrison atten...more

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Jul 09, 2009 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Richard by: Booze & Books bookclub

Shelves: bookclub, history, non-fiction

The Devil in the White City is a book about the White City — the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and a book about a devil — a psychopathic serial killer.

I enjoyed both books here, but wasn't pleased with the author's decision to try to integrate them into one book.

If they had been separate, they each would have probably earned four stars — perhaps five. The White City half certainly dealt with a fascinating cast of characters, architecture was skyrocketing in importance, and Chicago was a hotbed of a...more

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Jun 16, 2008 Joan added it · review of another edition

I feel as though I ought to write two (or three) reviews of this book, because it consists of two (or three) stories: the creation of the Columbian Exposition of 1893, the murders committed by H.H. Holmes, and (peripherally) the assassination of Mayor Carter Harrison.

Larson's narrative jumps back and forth between these stories, without ever connecting them, and so the book leaves one with a very disjointed feeling, a feeling that something was left out, something that would show a relationship...more I feel as though I ought to write two (or three) reviews of this book, because it consists of two (or three) stories: the creation of the Columbian Exposition of 1893, the murders committed by H.H. Holmes, and (peripherally) the assassination of Mayor Carter Harrison.

Larson's narrative jumps back and forth between these stories, without ever connecting them, and so the book leaves one with a very disjointed feeling, a feeling that something was left out, something that would show a relationship among the events described (or at least one more significant than that they occurred in the same city at the same time).

The book is worth reading for the history of the Columbian Exposition. Such an enterprise naturally left a great deal of source material for Larson to draw on, and he wisely chose to focus on the involvement Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmstead, the planner and the landscape architect. Both were not only interesting, brilliant men in their fields, but were inveterate diarists and letter writers, very helpful to the historian! It's a great saga, as Chicago is awarded the Fair with less than two years until its planned opening. Even though one knows, of course, that the Fair went off magnificently, one is on tenterhooks reading of the rivalries, the missteps, the difficulties. Will it open? Will it be ready? Excellent stuff.

The story of H.H. Holmes, serial killer, who lured young women to his oddly-constructed building near the Fair and gruesomely killed them, on the other hand, is badly told and unconvincing. Why so? The source material, for one, is lacking. Though Holmes wrote a memoir, and Larson also consulted the trial record [of H's murder trial in Philadelphia; he was never charged with the murders in Chicago] and contemporary news accounts, the author seems to rely heavily on a couple of sensationalist books whose sources are not sufficiently accounted for. Naturally, one must take with a grain of salt the hindsight memories of those who, after Holmes' activities were known, "always thought there was something odd".

Larson also has an annoying habit, one which he shares with some other writers of non-fiction, of engaging in speculation and interpretation presented as fact. He describes thoughts and feelings of real people with no basis other than "it's likely". The difficulty is that the text is presented with no qualification, and it is only careful attention to the endnotes that reveals Larson's imagination is at work.
I'm not sure why he felt the need to weave in the thread about Harrison's assassination, other than the fact that it occurred a few days before the close of the Exposition and so affected the closing ceremonies. It was a curious event in Chicago history, the assassin was clearly a paranoid schizophrenic, but it doesn't contribute much to this history.

On balance, the book is good reading for the sections on the Exposition (and should be in any collection of Chicagoiana for that), and even the rest of it is somewhat redeemed by Larson's generally compelling narrative style.(less)

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Nov 14, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by K. Osborn Sullivan for TeensReadToo.com

In 1893, Chicago was gearing up for its shining moment on the international stage. The city had been selected to host the World's Fair, beating out New York and a number of other American contenders. A prominent local architect, Daniel Burnham, had taken the reins to organize and construct the massive project. He assembled a dream team of architects, landscapers, engineers, and other professionals to help pull the fair together. Certainly Chicag...more Reviewed by K. Osborn Sullivan for TeensReadToo.com

In 1893, Chicago was gearing up for its shining moment on the international stage. The city had been selected to host the World's Fair, beating out New York and a number of other American contenders. A prominent local architect, Daniel Burnham, had taken the reins to organize and construct the massive project. He assembled a dream team of architects, landscapers, engineers, and other professionals to help pull the fair together. Certainly Chicago could outdo the Paris Fair, which had been a worldwide success years earlier.

Unfortunately for Burnham and his team, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Due to a lack of organization and bickering among the committees responsible for the fair, construction began far later than it should have. Partially completed buildings blew over and burned down. Union workers threatened strikes. One sideshow act showed up a year early, while another (which was believed to be made up of cannibals) killed the man sent to retrieve them and never showed up at all. And there was a monster on the loose. A man who used the chaos of Chicago at this time in history to conceal the murders of dozens of people - many of them young, single women. A man who constructed a building with stolen money, then used the building as a slaughterhouse to lure, kill, and dispose of his victims.

THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY is a terrific book. It is nonfiction, but it reads like a novel. The real-life details of this story seem almost too bizarre to be true, yet this is one example of the old saying that "truth is stranger than fiction." The author, Erik Larson, even includes a lengthy section at the back where he documents his facts and explains his suppositions.

The book's chapters alternate between the World's Fair and the exploits of serial killer, Dr. H.H. Holmes. I found myself enjoying both stories, as they ran parallel throughout the book. The Herculean task of putting together the fair in record time was fascinating, and the sociopathic actions of Dr. Holmes were chilling. It made for a brilliant contrast - just when the frustrations of the Fair seemed overwhelming, the book switched to Dr. Holmes as he lured yet another young woman into his web. And just when Dr. Holmes' evil seemed too much to bear, the chapter would end and the reader would be back at the World's Fair dealing with political back stabbing, instead of Holmes' more literal variety.

I rarely read nonfiction, but this book came highly recommended to me, so I gave it a try. I'm so glad I did, too. It offers a wonderful historical perspective on Chicago and the world near the close of the 19th century. For a Chicago-area native like me, its frequent mentions of famous local names, like Burnham and Adler and Marshall Field, that still grace street signs and the sides of buildings, were an added treat. Just a brief word of warning, though: it does contain some of the dreaded "adult themes." Some of Dr. Holmes' crimes are described - although not too graphically - and they might be upsetting for "younger or more sensitive" readers.

I strongly recommend THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY to anyone who enjoys an engrossing, well-written story, whether they normally read fiction or nonfiction. In particular, if readers have a book report in school, this book should be considered. It makes history come alive. (less)

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Jul 17, 2007 Maureen rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people interested in Chicago, architecture & city planning, serial killers, foreshadowing

Shelves: crime-law-espionage

I enjoyed Devil in the White City, particularly for the wealth of information (tons of great trivia!) in this novel-style nonfiction book. I probably would have appreciated it more, though, if I were from Chicago, a city planner or architect, or had a fascination with serial killers.

What was by far the most irksome for me was Larson's insistence on foreshadowing absolutely every character introduction and happening in the book. Some are clever, but this "one day, he would make headlines"-style b...more

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Dec 13, 2010 Stacey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, nonfiction-history, nonfiction-true-crime

The White City portion of this book was, by far, the more interesting part of the story. Chicago, just before the turn of the century, was still a filthy, sometimes primitive city, just beginning to claw its way to modernity. The story of the 1893 Worlds Fair was an incredible story of overcoming insurmountable odds to create a dream. The economy of the entire country was in freefall, yet architects and city planners created this incredible exposition out of virtually nothing. Many firsts occurr...more

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Apr 30, 2008 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fascinating! I grew up in Chicago and each year we had a brief unit in school on the city's history: Carl Sandburg, The Jungle, railroads, Native Americans. But we never once touched on the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition (aka the World Fair) and I knew nothing at all about this amazing feat or the people involved until I read Larson's book.

I can't believe such an important time -- both for the city and the nation -- which introduced so much to American society has been so forgotten. Larson di...more

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Jun 12, 2007 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2007, own, non-fiction

The entire three years I lived in Chicago, I wanted to read this book, but never got around to it until the week that I moved. The Devil in the White City is nonfiction, but Erik Larson uses a style flows like a fictional narrative. It follows two men, Daniel Burnham and H. H. Holmes, during the World's Fair in the late 1800s. Burnham was the fair's chief architect, and Holmes was America's first serial killer, who used the fair to lure his victims to him.

Although I imagine I appreciated the boo...more

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May 10, 2013 Ryan Boomershine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood." Daniel Burnham

Double biography. Devil in the White City is the story of Daniel Burnham's [architect of the Flatiron Building, Union Station in DC and other fantastic buildings around the world], impossible feat to ready Chicago for the 1893 World's Fair and H.H. Holmes' sinister life of gross deception, high-charged charm (even his ultimate executioner's were reluctant to kill him) and full-tilt capacity to murder in bulk. His crime...more

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Feb 09, 2012 Kathy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Kathy by: Cindy

Shelves: non-fiction

I enjoyed reading this book about the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the parallel story (every other chapter) of the mass murderer H.H. Holmes who was doing horrific things just a short distance from the fair site.

As I was reading this book I realized that nothing much changes in society, 1893 and 2012 are very similar. Big advances in science and technology were happening in the late 1800s as are the big advances we see today; the economy was struggling in 1893 with high unemployment, new co...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Sherry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: awc, kindle, favorites

I loved this book! This is the story of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair as well as the story of the serial killer, Dr. H. H. Holmes, who was on a murder spree at the same time. The book is entirely factual, pieced together from various letters, pamphlets, newspapers, and other historical documents, however, the author has arranged the story as though it were a novel, making it a very enjoyable read.

The author does a terrific job of keeping the reader hooked as he frequently foreshadows ominous upc...more

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Feb 10, 2012 Xavier Guillaume rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those intrigued by serial killers and psychopaths, Those interested in Chicago history

Shelves: non-fiction

What a marvelous book! I bought this book because I was very interested in reading about serial killers, and I have family in Chicago, whom I've visited on many occasions, so it just seemed to fit. On the back of the book Esquire gives a very fitting blurb: "So good, you find yourself asking how you could not know this already." This is absolutely true. In every chapter of the book, I was astounded and amazed over the events that occurred.

Much to the annoyance of my boyfriend, I would shout out...more What a marvelous book! I bought this book because I was very interested in reading about serial killers, and I have family in Chicago, whom I've visited on many occasions, so it just seemed to fit. On the back of the book Esquire gives a very fitting blurb: "So good, you find yourself asking how you could not know this already." This is absolutely true. In every chapter of the book, I was astounded and amazed over the events that occurred.

Much to the annoyance of my boyfriend, I would shout out while he was doing something, "Oh my goodness, did you know that at the opening ceremony for the World Fair like 90% of the people there couldn't even hear the speech being given because they didn't have microphones back then!" or "Wow! Did you know that the first Ferris Wheel was made for the World Fair and the axle weighed 142,031 pounds??" Looking back on all that now, I must have been quite the nuisance, but I was so engrossed by the story, every bit of information and detail thrilled me.

Maybe I'm just a geek when it comes to history, but personally, I feel it is very important to know about what life was like in America in the late 1800s and Larson does a good job at capturing that. Not to mention, Larson does a good job at piecing together the notes of who Holmes was and how he went about on his serial killings. If you look at the Bibliography, it's astounding. The amount of research put in this book is fantastic. It's like Larson was Indiana Jones and he had to solve the puzzles of the Last Crusade with only the help of a scrawling journal. I exaggerate, but that's how it felt at times.

Do I recommend it to others? I think it might be boring for some. It definitely took me awhile to take the plunge. But once I got to the third chapter or so, I was hooked! You also have to not mind that Larson goes back and forth from Holmes to Burnham. There came a point halfway through the story where you finally learn how Holmes goes about with his serial killings. Then all of a sudden he switches back to Burnham, and I was like nooooo...Burnham is boring...tell me about Holmes! But then I would start to learn more about the fair, and get so immersed in that, it would come back to Holmes and I was like, oh yeah, I almost forgot about Holmes. Personally, I think Larson does a pretty decent job intertwining the two stories. If it flowed more, this would most definitely have been 5 stars, but the two stories don't really seem to fit much at times except that the two events occurred at the same time. This book could most definitely be turned into a movie if done right. The World Fair was so grandiose that the story being told on the big screen would be oh so fitting. But if they do make it into a film, I hope they choose a good actor to play Holmes. Personally, I found him to be the most intriguing character, on par with Norman Bates.

Also, does anyone else find it strangely fitting that Holmes' real name was Mudgett? (less)

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Apr 12, 2009 Annalisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: history buffs

Recommended to Annalisa by: Dani

Shelves: book-club, memoir-biography, non-fiction

I read a few reviews about this book criticizing the book for being more about the white city and less about the devil and I almost didn't finish the book thinking the book wouldn't be that much about Holmes. I'm so glad I didn't listen.

I've always had a some vague fascination with the World Fair and was pleasantly delighted to find out how much of our world gets its roots from the Chicago World Fair: our neoclassic bank building styles, city planning, labor union reformations, and most importa...more I read a few reviews about this book criticizing the book for being more about the white city and less about the devil and I almost didn't finish the book thinking the book wouldn't be that much about Holmes. I'm so glad I didn't listen.

I've always had a some vague fascination with the World Fair and was pleasantly delighted to find out how much of our world gets its roots from the Chicago World Fair: our neoclassic bank building styles, city planning, labor union reformations, and most importantly modern theme parks (thank you!). I think it would have been fascinating to attend the world fair and see electricity in all its glory for the first time, to experience the fireworks shows over the lake, and see all the new technology of our greatest age of scientific innovation. Some new products showcased at the world fair: Cracker Jack popcorn, shredded wheat, hot air balloons, Kodak cameras, the electric chair, zippers, and telephones. Some people in attendance: Helen Keller, Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Houdini, Thomas Edison, Buffalo Bill, Woodrow Wilson, and Susan B. Anthony. What a time. It would certainly make you feel patriot knowing the US had upstaged Paris, and without New York or any of the eastern cities. And Larson did a good job of making the construction of the fair, the magic of its duration, and its lasting impact exciting.

Sure Howard Holmes, or Herman Mudgett, may not have had anything to do with the world fair, but he was in Chicago at the time preying on its visitors so he adds to the ambiance of the time. A story about the world fair would not be complete without him and it is his rightful place to be secondary in the story, or at least on an even plane. That's not to say I didn't want more of the Holmes chapters but there is so little known about him. As America's first serial killer, how come he is forgotten when Jack the Ripper terrorizing England at the same time is infamous? That's because Holmes was such a master at deception that nobody really knows exactly whom he killed and how. Up until the end, he was still playing with authorities, and the public, laughing that nobody knew the truth. Serial killers want to be famous these days but Holmes had nobody to upstage (other than his English counterpart who was never found) and was satisfied with knowing he had pulled one over on everyone. It would be nice if more were known about Holmes and his Castle of Terror. Without a lot of concrete information but much speculation, I thought Larson did a good job of giving us an accurate picture of Holmes (like I would know) and presenting the gory details without being disgusting but still showing us how disturbing the events were. And I enjoyed how his story was weaved between the pressure to get the fair done on time. Both stories were fascinating, well researched, intriguingly written and I'm glad I finished the read.(less)

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May 01, 2013 Will Byrnes rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, american-history, brain-candy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The White City is the Chicago Columbia Exposition, a world fair in which all the buildings were painted white; the time the late 1800s during the fair; the Devil is a serial killer. Yet this is a non-fiction book. Larson has written a very informative as well as entertaining story. The Columbian Exposition was a very big deal. Chicago had vied for the honor of presenting a world’s fair, and when they were selected the energy of the famed slaughterhouse city was put to the wheel. There are many p...more The White City is the Chicago Columbia Exposition, a world fair in which all the buildings were painted white; the time the late 1800s during the fair; the Devil is a serial killer. Yet this is a non-fiction book. Larson has written a very informative as well as entertaining story. The Columbian Exposition was a very big deal. Chicago had vied for the honor of presenting a world’s fair, and when they were selected the energy of the famed slaughterhouse city was put to the wheel. There are many personalities involved, not least Daniel Burnham, one of the top architects of his day and the coordinator of the entire project design. He brought in Frederick Law Olmstead and many other top architects. Chicago was determined to outdo the French, whose world fair in Paris had been a triumph, introducing, among other things, the Eiffel Tower, and mass use of alternating current. Larson describes the conflicting and outlandish personalities of the time, and makes us marvel that the thing ever actually got done. The Chicago Exposition introduced some significant items of its own, not least of which was a very progressive notion of city planning, for the enterprise required attention to a multitude of facets simultaneously in order to come to fruition. One of the structures built was then the largest building in the world. The fair introduced Mister Ferris’ first working wheel. The Disney family attended and the fair may have inspired Walt to a development of his own. Buffalo Bill made millions with his entertainment just outside the fair gates (The fair had not allowed him to be a part of the show inside). Weather was a formidable opponent to the construction, as was the state of the economy, namely plummeting.

Counterbalancing the travails and triumphs of creating the fair, the Devil of the title was a young man named Holmes (no, not Sherlock). He had a very winning way with people, particularly creditors and attractive young women. He had some flaws however. Among them was a complete inability to empathize with anyone. He was an extreme example of what we refer to today as a psychopath. He set up shop in Chicago about that time, acquired some property and constructed on it a building of his own design. It was called The Castle, and one might be forgiven for imagining it with lightning bolts blasting stormy skies. For it was here that he murdered untold numbers of people, women, men, children. He designed the building to incorporate a space in which he could trap and gas people. He also allowed for his need to incinerate the bodies without releasing much aroma. His charm kept the suspicious at bay. Eventually, of course, he was found out and brought to justice, but not until he had slain somewhere between 50 and 200 people.

Larson peppers the book with dozens of satisfying factoids, about the people he is describing and about the times. It was, despite some of the darker subject matter, a very engaging, informative, and yes, fun read.
(less)

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Oct 02, 2008 Trena rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone with even a passing interest in history or psychopaths

Recommended to Trena by: Stephen

I debated over whether to give this four or five stars. I usually give four stars to books I love but that might not be to everyone's taste, and five stars to books I think everyone would like. When I went on a (fruitless) search for this on the library's shelves, I was a little embarrassed to find myself in the True Crime section. I don't go in for the gruesome and garrulous "I know who killed me" genre; it strikes me as tasteless and sensationalist, and plus I feel that I have the right amount...more

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Aug 25, 2008 Linda rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: history buffs, architecture buffs, true crime readers

A friend suggested this book and I thought perhaps it would be similar to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil which I thoroughly enjoyed---historical with a story woven into it. However, I was unfortunately unable to finish it. I think Goodreads needs a new category...."got bored, so I gave up". This book weaves together the true story of 2 men, an architect and a serial killer---with the Chicago World's Fair as the background. I think it was the voluminous details given about the difficulty...more

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Sep 13, 2008 Monica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Monica by: Noran

Shelves: history, architectural-history

Growing up in NY I took architecture for granted.

I didn't *really* see a cornice or balustrade until I'd fufilled a requirement at the University of Michigan in Professor Thomas A. Cole's American Studies class: a study of American city plans for Boston, New York, New Haven, Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnatti and Chicago. It included buildings, monuments, sculpture, fountains, parks, and murals.

The 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition encompassed a unified visual idealism th...more Growing up in NY I took architecture for granted.

I didn't *really* see a cornice or balustrade until I'd fufilled a requirement at the University of Michigan in Professor Thomas A. Cole's American Studies class: a study of American city plans for Boston, New York, New Haven, Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnatti and Chicago. It included buildings, monuments, sculpture, fountains, parks, and murals.

The 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition encompassed a unified visual idealism that carried in a wave of civic development throughout the country. It offered a vision of a city created by the greatest gathering of artists, designers and architects in American history and became the catalyst for art museums, libraries, university plans, railroad terminals and civic building from San Francisco to Buffalo. Americans borrowed from Rome, London, Budapest, St. Petersburg and Paris, but the scale was distinctively American.

A class trip took us to Burnham and Root's Rookery Building, Louis Sullivan's Carson Pirie Scott building, the Field Museum, and lagoon behind the Museum of Science and Industry, to experience first hand, vestiges left from the fair.

Grand Central Station (1904-1913), Pennsylvania Station (now destroyed), Washington Union Station, Boston Public Library, Washington Capitol, New York Stock Exchange, Lowe Library and university schemes for UCLA, Perdue, Berkley, Stanford, Columbia and MIT are just a few of the buildings and places that owe a debt to the Columbian Exhibition.

Not knowing anything about H. H. Holmes and his dastardly deeds, I came to The Devil in the White City with more than a simple appreciation for the Fair, and the people who created it. I never lost interest in the story and appreciated Larson's work bringing Burnham, Root, William Morris Hunt and Frederick Law Olmstead and the creation of the fair, in detail, to life.

I don’t understand how anyone could say this book was badly written. For me that opinion is entirely unjustified.

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Nov 17, 2007 Tracey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bought Oct 2007

I heard an interview with the author on the Diane Rhem show back in March 2003 & checked to see if the library had the book.

This book follows the development of the 1893 World's Fair and the murderous spree of one of America's first serial killers, Herman Webster Mudgett (aka H.H. Holmes) both occurring in the burgeoning city of Chicago. Larson alternates between the two narratives more or less a chapter at a time. The writing is superb, bringing to life the world at the turn...more

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May 23, 2007 Aubrey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: lovers of 19th century American history

Shelves: recentlyread

I know everyone else loves this book, but I was disappointed by it. Erik Larson toggles among various narratives that never really come together in a compelling way, as I expected they would. Because the author employs a style of fiction writing to convey his nonfictional account, the book turns out to be ultimately a big tease. It would have been better for Larson to call this book "Assorted Stuff Happening in Illinois in the late 19th century."

On the other hand, I can see how the various thre...more

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Jul 05, 2008 Steff rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book I would even say that it one of my favorite books of all time. It had a very intriguing plot and none of it was even fiction. Although at first you may wonder why the author chose to write a story of two totally unrelated people, the man responsible for the worlds fair in Chicago 1893 and a serial killer stocking women in Chicago the during the same period of time. But the author draws the parallel between them, they both had such passion for the things they were doing one for...more

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Mar 02, 2008 Anita rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mysteries

I really enjoyed this book. It is 2 parts history and 1 part psychological thriller.

The author does a great job of laying out the gravity and impact of the World's Fair in Chicago. The stature and "key players" were fascinating-- intertwining history and lore. I felt like I had attended a very interesting class on Chicago cerca turn of the nineteenth century.

The "Devil" was a side show really, but incredibly frightening and interesting all the same.

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May 12, 2008 Teri rated it 5 of 5 stars

Don't let the mass murderer turn you off of this book. His actions are reported very factually (as in not gory) and the info on the 1892 Columbian Exposition is fascinating. After you read it google the expo and there's a website with tons of pictures of the buildings described in the book. (Wish he would have put them in it)

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Jan 28, 2009 Annie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I usually enjoy reading books rooted in history but this one was great because it read so smoothly - like a novel. I had no idea about the Chicago World's Fair in the 1890's and how influential it was for the country. I also enjoyed how Larson took the time to find the human depth and psychology of the real people who experienced this event. I can see why this book is so popular: it takes a little known historical event (that would normally be a little dry), an excellent amount of research, and...more

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Nov 11, 2008 Paula rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a fascinating historical account of Chicago at the end of the 19th century. The book was meticulously researched and very well written. There are two distinct stories: one of the preparation for the 1892 Chicago World Fair (Columbia Exposition)and the architects responsible, and another of a serial murderer who methodically and gruesomely killed an unknown number of people, many of them women. The two tales are well woven together. The author gives us a real sense of life in Chicago in...more

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About Erik Larson

Erik Larson, author of the international bestseller Isaac's Storm, was nominated for a National Book Award for The Devil in the White City. He is a former features writer for The Wall Street Journal and Time magazine, where he is still a contributing writer. His magazine stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's and other publications.

Larson has taught non-fiction wri...more

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Books by Erik Larson

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“It was so easy to disappear, so easy to deny knowledge, so very easy in the smoke and din to mask that something dark had taken root. This was Chicago, on the eve of the greatest fair in history.” — 24 people liked it

“I must confess a shameful secret: I love Chicago best in the cold.” — 18 people liked it

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