The Devil in the White City in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

May 04, 2010 Ashley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history

The first 3/4 of this book were excellent. Juxtaposing the construction of the Chicago World's Fair-- with all its hope and pride-- with the depravity of a killer like HH Holmes was a great choice. However, I have to admit that I thought the stories might overlap a bit more, it seemed a bit like they were simply parallel. The explanation of how Holmes was caught felt a bit shallow given that he ended up killing his partner and partner's children.

Larson's prose is easy to read and his description ...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Rae rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, true-crime-and-forensics

Larson weaves two main stories together in this true crime / narrative non-fiction book about the World's Fair in Chicago and a gruesome serial killer of women and children.

I got bogged down in the endless trivia and was generally annoyed by the switching back and forth of the two plot threads. I think readers would have been better served by two completely separate books--one about the fair and one about the serial killer. Other than those personal responses, though, this was a decent read. ...more

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Jul 31, 2009 Talia rated it liked it

Shelves: adultnon-fic

Devil in the White City follows two very different men under the backdrop of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair: Daniel Burnham and H.H. Holmes. Burnham was the chief architect responsible for building the fair, and Holmes was a psychopathic and deceivingly charming killer whose house of murder was just a short distance away from the bright lights and magic of the World’s Fair.

Once you start reading this book, it’s easy to get frustrated. This book is classified as a true crime book, but a lot of the ...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Rick rated it really liked it

I think this my second time reading this. I picked it up last year but it didn't stick with me. Then on the recommendation of a friend I picked it up again. It was better this time but I wasn't really interested in the "Devil" part of the story. What fascinated me was the descriptions of the Fair itself. It reminded me of the book The Night Circus. Both books made me want to see what was being described and I started to think about the idea of awe. The White City itself, the Ferris Wheel (Hey, s ...more

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Jul 25, 2014 Leslie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: grownups, favorites, nonfiction

Perfect narrative nonfiction. Essential reading for every Chicagoan, history buff and architect. So many things to explore further after reading this book.

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