Devil in the White City by Erik Larson 2004

[El Dingo]

The Devil in the White City (Amazon link)

I picked this up at Costco because I wanted some summer 'fluff' for a camping trip. I spent so much time actually doing camping stuff I never got around to reading it.

Good thing too, because this book really isn't 'fluff'. It's damn close to non-fiction as the author uses letters, newspapers, interviews and first-hand accounts to tell the story. In the foreword he makes clear that anything in quotes is from another (trusted) published source.

The book recounts the planning and construction of the 1893 Colombian Exhibition AKA The Chicago World's Fair. It was an immense undertaking that covered hundreds of acres on the shore of Lake Michigan. It employed thousands of workers and attracted millions of attendees. Fascinating stuff.

It also tells the concurrent tale of H.H. Holmes, Amrica's first (reported) serial killer who used the fair as a hunting ground.

It almost feels like reading a textbook, which is OK for me because I get all excited over technical whitepapers. The sheer size of the endeavor (which was to be torn down six months later) is staggering. The influence of the fair on everything from architecture to fast food (the word 'cafeteria' was introduced at the fair) is still felt today.

Using the backdrop of the fair's ambition and glory to describe the pure evil of H.H. Holmes and his body count (9 confirmed, estimates run closer to one hundred) was inspired. The guy was really good at disposing of bodies and the lack of forensic science helped quite a bit.

A good read and made me rent a couple DVDs about the fair and Holmes.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Somewhere in here there is my review of this book. Or maybe it is on the old site. Yes, that old.

Good book. Learned things I didn't know about world's fairs and mass murderers. But I don't think the two halves of the story ever connected like the author hoped.

[El Dingo]

The age of the book is an interesting point. I bought a 2004 book at a mass-market store with maybe 75 to 100 fiction titles in 2012. Another forum I read (Reddit) had a post about H.H.Holmes possibly because he was featured on a "Supernatural" episode.

Let's see if the media saturation plays out and the Holmes + 1893 Worlds Fair takes over the History Channel and pop culture for no reason whatsoever.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Really good book. Larson's other books are well worth it. Isaac's Storm is riveting. I put him up there with Sebastian Junger and Simon Winchester for great non-fic reads.