The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
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Book Summary Author: Erik Larson Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2004-02-10 ISBN: 0375725601 Number of pages: 447 Publisher: Vintage |
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Book Reviews of the The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
Customer Review: Architects, Madness and Murder
Summary: 4 Stars
This fascinating nonfiction book reads like a pot-boiler with a cliff-hanger at the end of each chapter. Deftly blending the monumental task of planning and building of the 1893 Columbia Exposition in Chicago with the tangential stories of a mad Irish assassin and a fiendish sexual serial killer, Erik Larsen has created a gripping tale centered on the "White City" built on the outskirts of a much darker, dangerous and dirty "Black City," where tourists were as drawn to the stockyards to watch pigs being slaughtered as eagerly as they attended the more refined offerings of the fair. Here they saw for the first time, millions of electric lights running on AC current, tasted and honored Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, tried Shredded Wheat, saw belly dancing for the first time and rode on the world's first Ferris Wheel. The cast of characters so brilliantly drawn by Larsen's nearly over-the-top prose include the dozens of architects and engineers driven to complete the fair on time (some driven to death), including famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead of Central Park fame. Within the progress of the fair as over-arching tale are the stories of two deeply disturbed men, Patrick Predergast and H.H. Holmes; one insane in his belief in his importance to the reelection of Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison, a belief that lead to tragedy; the other a cunning and pathological killer, who built a house with rooms where arcitect Louis Sullivan's credo of "form following function" was strictly adhered to. Holmes built gas chambers, sound-proof vaults and a crematorium in his "World's Fair Hotel" and rented rooms to nubile young women visiting Chicago to see the Fair. Many of them were never seen again. Larsen keeps the suspense going on all levels. Will the massive fair grounds built on near quicksand be ready for opening day? What form will Prendergast's insanity take? Will anyone ever realize that Dr. Holmes' hotel guests check in but never check out? All in all, "The Devil in the White City" is fascinating, compelling reading, almost a guilty pleasure but that it is all true and therefore all the most captivating for its veracity. One small quibble: more photographs of the fair grounds and the lead characters would have enriched the text greatly. Purple prose may abound, but Mr. Larsen's purple is of the most elegant and regal of hues.