From the Bookshelf of Diversity in All Forms!…

The Devil in the White City

Erik Larson,

Tony Goldwyn (Narrator)

Start date: January 1, 2017

Finish date: January 31, 2017

Discussion: Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: January's voted on book theme/topic is True Crime. …more
[close] January's voted on book theme/topic is True Crime.

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 74 topics — 1,387 comments total

Monthly Group Reads

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (June 2021)
By Mariah Roze · 7 posts · 65 views

last updated Feb 12, 2024 09:45AM

The Help (March 2023)
By Mariah Roze · 4 posts · 22 views

last updated Mar 06, 2023 09:46AM

showing 1 of 1 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Feb 12, 2017 David - proud Gleeman in Branwen's adventuring party rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: group-reads, read-by-kindlelight, non-fiction, mariah-makes-the-world-better, true-crime, 2017-reads

For me, reviewing this book is similar to trying to review any Nicolas Cage movie from the past 20 years, in that if I was asked if Cage's over-the-top performance was the best thing or the worst thing about the movie, I could only answer...
"Yes!"

(Pictured - one of Nicolas Cage's more subdued performances; Not pictured - sanity)

If you were to ask me my favorite thing about this book, I would immediately answer, "Erik Larson's writing style!"

This book is mostly talked about for the portions pert ...more

192 likes · Like · see review

Mar 12, 2020 Jaclyn~she lives! catching up on reviews~ added it · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-true-crime, states-illinois, genre-non-fiction, genre-historical, country-usa

This book – in my opinion – succeeds because Larson masterfully contrasts the light and the dark sides of Chicago. The white city is grand and serene in it's opulence, where as the black city is gritty and violent, tinged with blood, poverty and pestilence.

Larson's prose is imbued with a sense of wonder. During my reading I felt as if Larson had to be a bit "Jekyll & Hyde" in his approach, with one half of the narrative from Burnham's perspective & the other half from H.H. Holmes.
Burnham repres ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Feb 11, 2016 Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

I love Erik Larson's books. He tells such vivid descriptions of history. This is the story of Chicago's World's Fair at the end of the 1800's. It goes into detail of the architects who built the fair, what it took and how many lives were changed during it and after it. Simultaneously it tells of a true sociopath who's hunting grounds are a few blocks away from the fair location. I am amazed how we still haven't learned. So many men rode the highs and good times of the fair and were left destitut ...more

7 likes · Like · see review