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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death. ??Relentlessly fuses history and entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a novel .... It doesn??t hurt that this truth is stranger than fiction.? ??The New York Times Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction.
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America??s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair??s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country??s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his ??World??s Fair Hotel? just west of the fairgrounds??a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium. Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake. The Devil in the White City draws the reader into the enchantment of the Guilded Age, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. Erik Larson??s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the g… (more)
thatwordnerd: Both books tell a true story, with a multitude of sources, but are written in a way that makes the reader feel as if it is almost fiction. The reader (see more) is not hit over the head with facts and is able to get sucked into the story and the era.
BookshelfMonstrosity: Offering rich details of Savannah in the 1980s (Midnight in the Garden) and Chicago in the 1890s (Devil in the White City), these well-researched and dramatic recreations of terrible crimes are equally compelling, despite differences in time period and location.… (more)
CarlT: Though AMERICAN GOTHIC is fiction and THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY is non-fiction, both books are based on the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 (nicknamed "The White City") and the horrific murders committed by serial killer Henry H. Holmes.
Stbalbach: Both concern late-19th C American killers in the backdrop of a bigger social story of advancement (Chicago Fair and Oxford English Dictionary).
BookshelfMonstrosity: The Devil In the White City and The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher are compelling and richly detailed books about historical true crime. These stories present not only details about the crime but also about the social mores of the time.
Gripping drama, captured with a reporter's nose for a good story and a novelist's flair for telling it. A vivid account of the tragedies and triumphs of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the concurrent depravities of America's first serial killer. ( )
I should have loved this book. Shifting perspectives, historical context, a hint of mystery...and I DID enjoy it at first.
But I must agree with those who complain about Larson's heavy-handed foreshadowing (yeah...the "big reveal" of George Ferris was a bit obvious from his introduction.) And also his overuse of speculation. But mostly, my complaint is dragging things out and failing to provide any real connection between the two story lines.
My reading experience may also be affected by Star Wars Syndrome....I've been hearing raves about this book for so long that perhaps my expectations were too high. ( )
This never really came together for me. The subject matter was interesting and the writing style is engaging. However I think the book fails overall. We spend so much time on the details of the World's Fair, that I don't think the book spends enough time detailing the madness that is Holmes. It really doesn't go into enough detail on his many crimes and how he is probably one of the worst predator's of all time. The book spends way too much time lifting up the powerful, that it completely looses the importance of the less powerful and victims of Holmes crimes. I was frankly a little appalled with how little time we spent with Holmes's victims. They came across as items and not people. I'm hoping the TV adaptation does a better job of this.
And can we get the audio book fixed? Wilmette is pronounced incorrectly the entire time. ( )
As I read the chapters about the World's Fair I felt great suspense: would they complete it on time? would it be spectacular enough to shut the mouths of those East Coast snobs? would the fair escape tragedy?
Reading the chapters about the serial killer H.H. Holmes was also suspenseful in a more immediate way: would he kill this person too? how would he be found out?
The alternation between the obvious and immediate suspense of the murderer and the subtle suspense of trying to overcome great odds made a nice contrast, and probably even heightened the suspense of both narratives. I had a hard time reading this book at night (due to the Holmes chapters), and found that 4pm to 7pm was the best time to read and not ruin my day or give me nightmares.
Mr. Larson has written a dynamic, enveloping book filled with haunting, closely annotated information. And it doesn't hurt that this truth really is stranger than fiction.
Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood. Daniel H. Burnham
Director of Works
World's Columbian Exposition, 1893
I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing. Dr. H. H. Holmes
Confession
1896
Dedication
To Chris, Kristen, Lauren, and Erin,
for making it all worthwhile —and to Molly, whose lust for socks
kept us all on our toes
First words
The date was April 14, 1912, a sinister day in maritime history, but of course the man in suite 63–65, shelter deck C, did not yet know it.
Quotations
"Suddenly New York and St. Louis wanted the fair. Washington laid claim to the honor on the grounds it was the center of government, New York because it was the center of everything. No one cared what St. Louis thought, although the city got a wink for pluck."
"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood"
"They are blue. Great murderers, like great men in other walks of activity, have blue eyes."
"In all the workforce in the park numbered four thousand. The ranks included a carpenter and furniture-maker named Elias Disney, who in coming years would tell many stories about the construction of this magical realm beside the lake. His son Walt would take note."
Last words
On a crystalline fall day you can almost hear the tinkle of fine crystal, the rustle of silk and wool, almost smell the expensive cigars.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death. ??Relentlessly fuses history and entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a novel .... It doesn??t hurt that this truth is stranger than fiction.? ??The New York Times Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction.
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America??s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair??s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country??s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his ??World??s Fair Hotel? just west of the fairgrounds??a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium. Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake. The Devil in the White City draws the reader into the enchantment of the Guilded Age, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. Erik Larson??s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the g
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Book description
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, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison. The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims. Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but it works. The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's skillful writing. --John Moe
Ar 9.2, 23 Pts
Haiku summary
Grizzly killings in
the shadow of great World's Fair
held in Chicago.
(legallypuzzled)
A glittering fair, Like a white gauze covering, Horrifying scars. (hillaryrose7)
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History; Nonfiction; True Crime; Erik Larson; Daniel Stashower
Wikipedia in English (7)
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