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

Larson juxtaposes the stories of Burnham, the architect in charge of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and Holmes, a man who made a career of murder in the same city, using the attraction of the fair to his advantage. Larson also pulls in, almost parenthetically, a less-developed account of Prendergast, the delusional citizen who killed Chicago's mayor at the time.

Two elements of these histories were the most striking to me. The first was the sheer magnitude of the undertaking of building the fair. The time was short, the politics amounted to oceans of red tape, the personnel were often difficult to persuade or manage, and the plan was outrageously ostentatious (and increasingly expensive); but they pulled it off and built what was show more essentially an entire small city to last only six months. The second shocking element in the book was how long Holmes was able to do what he did without raising enough suspicion to warrant any kind of investigation. No one knows how many people he ultimately killed, though some estimates are as high as 200.

This finely researched factual account is rendered like a work of fiction. Larson's style of writing and of weaving together the lives of his subjects is magnetic, and there were moments (especially in the account of Holmes, because who can resist the grisly details of the life of a sociopath) when I couldn't put the book down. show less

Extremely well written and researched, unsettling, entertaining, educational and fascinating are all words that come to mind on finishing Eric Larson's book [b:The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America|21996|The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America|Erik Larson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312066724s/21996.jpg|3486041]

The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 was a remarkable achievement for the city of Chicago and it's architect Daniel H. Burnham and while the city was celebrating and enjoying this new wonder of the world, another man by the name of H.H. Holmes, a handsome and charming doctor was luring victims to their deaths and becoming show more America's first Serial Killer. This is the incredible true account of two very different men and the different paths their lives would lead them.

This is my second Book by Eric Larson having read and loved [b:Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania|22551730|Dead Wake The Last Crossing of the Lusitania|Erik Larson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408923747s/22551730.jpg|42009388] previously I was looking forward to another book by this author. His books are extremely well researched and very detailed and he leaves no stone unturned when telling a story.

I loved learning about the Fair and the magnificent buildings, The World's first Ferris Wheel, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, electric boats, all the different elements that went into planning and organising such an amazing event. I loved how this book crossed over with numerous other books I had read about this time, (especially the quote from the notorious Chicago May who was born in Ireland only a few miles from my home and ended up becoming one of Chicago's most notorious Crooks of that time) I enjoyed the descriptions of families travelling long distances to the fair from small farms and towns and their amazement at witnessing these spectacular attractions and miracle of electricity for the first time. Eric Larson's descriptions are vivid and captivating and you actually imagine you are there at the centre of the city's excitement. Of course then you are brought back to reality with the murder and mayhem created by H.H Holmes and wonder how a man like this could have murdered so many innocent people and nobody noticed or suspected him.

A word of warning The Devil is in the detail and Eric Larson book's are high on detail and facts which I loved but some may find a tad tedious as the story does drag slightly in places but the historical information and descriptions are excellent and I loved every minute spent with this book.
I listened to this one on audio and the narration was excellent. show less

Most of what captivated me about this book revolved around the World’s Fair - it’s really interesting that so much time, energy, and money went into what was mostly temporary. It would’ve been a fascinating time to be in Chicago.

On the other side of this story, you’re really just reminded that the way the police, elected officials, and the wealthy have reacted to crime (especially crime committed by white men), hasn’t changed. Similar to other white male serial killers, many people had suspicions of what was happening but most turned a blind eye.

It's once again testing season in American schools, and today was one of those days when the principal told me that I couldn't have library check-out due to the need for absolute silence. (There's a hint of irony in there somewhere.) Undaunted, I turned to the seemingly never-ending piles of books that need to be repaired and got out my supplies. This is a dull task however, so I turned to an ebook to read while mending torn pages and dismembered (book) spines. This particular book has been on my list to read for a while, and it seemed as good as time as any to start reading it...

...And ultimately finishing it in one day also. I'm a pretty big history buff, and I've heard of H.H. Holmes before, along with the Great Fair of 1893, and I show more know way more about the labor disputes happening in Chicago than I care to (all thanks to one particularly union-minded professor in college.) I wasn't sure how Larson was going to tie all of these things (and much more!) together, but somehow he managed to make a compelling, oft-horrifying narrative story out of it. I won't say it was done seamlessly, because there were times when the information dragged and I wanted him to get to the point quicker, but the fascination and curiosity to see what connections he would make next encouraged me onward.

Larson seems to have done his research meticulously and it isn't often that I can get through a nonfiction text so quickly. I commend him for taking so many tangled threads and weaving it into a tale that rapidly turns from awe to terror to infuriation to sadness.

He certainly helped me get my piles of books that needed to be fixed down to only a few small stacks - I can't remember the last time that happened all in one day! I look forward to reading more books by him. show less

The Devil in White City is an account of the life and murders of HH Holmes, a serial killer living in Chicago, during the period of time that the 1893 Chicago World's Fair was being planned and developed. Alternating between the massive exercise of architecture, design, and urban planning that went into preparing the World's Fair, and Holmes' gory murderous exploits, the book presents an account of Chicago in the late 1800s with all its glory, innovation as well as the racism, sexism, and criminal conduct that characterized the place and period. Larson has attempted to present these two narratives in an imaginative, fictionalized way - he sticks close to the facts, but also tries to tell us the moods and feelings of the characters show more involved, which he could not possibly know. It's always a tricky line to draw in writing historical fiction, and he doesn't always succeed. I find it especially disingenuous because he sometimes presents his fantasies as facts and only clarifies that they are not true in the notes (not everyone reads the notes, I know, but I do, and I am annoyed to find that he uses them to disclaim lies instead of providing context and sources).

His narrative is hampered greatly by prose that is frequently clumsy and staccato, and riddled with poor choices. For instance, in describing Holmes' impregnation of an unmarried woman and the potential for social shame, he writes, "He owned her as thoroughly as a plantation slave." Given that Larson is writing about a period where slavery was only just nominally abolished, in the context of the world's fair which made gruesome spectacles out of imprisoned and enslaved people, and the very fact that social condemnation in no way compares to actual slavery, this seems like an unnecessary and particularly odious thing to say. Anyone who has blue eyes in this book will have those eyes compared to blue waters each time they come up in the narrative - presumably not any waters of Chicago, as you are also treated to loving descriptions of the depressing state of sewage and plumbing in the era. When he does include notable characters from the period, he does so again in a way that feels demeaning for no reason: he makes a meal out of suggesting that Harriet Monroe, who started the Poetry Foundation, ended up become a literary personality because of her inability to find a husband, which gives short shrift to the woman who wrote, edited, and played a crucial role in kickstarting the careers of many writers and poets in America, in addition to recording details of the World's Fair that Larson ungratefully uses in his narrative. Even his account of the murders of Holmes seems very focused on titillating presentations of the victims' bodies and looks, no bosom's size going unmentioned.

In the course of this book, Larson, with absolutely no self-awareness, critiques the writing of landscape architect Frederick Olmsted , noting that Olmsted's sentences "wandered through [a] report like morning glory through the pickets of a fence." I am unsurprised that this sensationalised, tedious, poorly-written pile of nonsense earned a glowing review from the NYT, which has done nothing but lead the discerning reader wrong for decades now. show less

WHERE DO I BEGIN? This book has it all! Politics! Intrigue! Murder! Weirdness! Absurdity! It’s the story of the Chicago World’s Fair and the eccentric personalities that birthed it, despite incredible odds and a succession of disasters, each of which could have easily shut down the whole thing. It’s also a fascinating glimpse into the psychology of the American public at that particular moment, teetering on the bring of financial collapse, convinced of our own greatness, and desperate to prove ourselves on an international stage.

When I say that this book is unbelievable, I mean that I had to set it down several times and marvel over the fact that every damn thing in it is 100% true. What’s more, I have reached the ripe age of show more fifty without ever having heard any of this.

I don’t want to tell you anything about it. I want you to pick it up and read it and enjoy the series of mind-boggled gasps that will involuntarily erupt from your throat as you grapple with the enormity of this epic tale. Even if you don’t enjoy books about history, or nonfiction in general, you will enjoy this book because Larson writes it like a fiction writer. Lots of rich detail and a keen understanding of the motivations of each of these real-life characters.

It’s extremely well-researched (the back contains references galore). I think the only thing I’ve read that compares is probably In Cold Blood (Capote)… and while I’m not sure I want to commit to this opinion – I think it may even be better.

If you don't read this book you're a damned fool. show less

Extraordinary book about an extraordinary time and extraordinary men doing extraordinary things. And yes, it's mostly men doing the big things, such was the nature of the times. Women are mostly minor characters, walk-on cameos and victims, though one of the most admirable acts is performed by an unnamed woman.
The Chicago World's Fair, a monumental undertaking by a monumental group of Chicago architects. The time is too short, the task is too big, there are delays and disasters waiting along the way but that doesn't stop them rolling up their sleeves and transforming a piece of lakeside wasteland into the fabled White City which becomes a marvel to enchant the whole world.
It's a story of sheer capitalist American achievement, awesome show more in scope and grandeur, and the sacrifice, vision and dedication of mighty men of business and industry in the name of civic pride is staggering to behold. It's also a vision of American darkness, however, with economic chaos, labour unrest, crime and insanity a kind of dark twin to the shining ideals of the fair. Most of all, though, deepest in the shadow of the White City, is Dr HH Holmes, charming and handsome, with his World's Fair Hotel and it's rooms full of vulnerable young women and it's secret vaults and gas lines and air-tight rooms and specially designed furnace. A monster of appalling proportions, the full scope of his awful crimes can never be known.
Larson runs the story of the fair and the story of the killer in parallel, writing with immense dramatic energy, the urgency of a novel and the riveting knowledge that this is fact, not fiction. show less