Erik Larson

Murder, Magic, Madness, and the Fair that Changed America

The Devil in the White City

One was an architect. The other a serial killer. This is the incredible story of these two men and their realization of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and its amazing 'White City'; one of the wonders of the world.

The architect was Daniel H. Burnham, the driving force behind the White City, the massive, visionary landscape of white buildings set in a wonderland of canals and gardens.

The killer was H. H. Holmes, a handsome doctor with striking blue eyes. He used the attraction of the great fair - and his own devilish charms - to lure scores of young women to their deaths.

While Burnham overcame politics, infighting, personality clashes and Chicago's infamous weather to transform the swamps of Jackson Park into the greatest show on Earth, Holmes built his own edifice just west of the fairground. He called it the World's Fair Hotel.

In reality it was a torture palace, a gas chamber, a crematorium.

These two disparate but driven men are brought to life in this mesmerizing, murderous tale of the legendary Fair that transformed America and set it on course for the twentieth century.

Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Andrea

"I was born with the devil in me," he wrote. "I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing." 

It was so easy to disappear, so easy to deny knowledge, so very easy in the smoke and din to mask that something dark had taken root. This was Chicago, on the eve of the greatest fair in history.

Chris Dailey

Sweeping non-fiction narrative about the 1892 Columbian Exposition (aka Chicago World's Fair). Parallel stories about the group of architects, financiers and engineers that made the event the greatest fair in world history; and about a charismatic, drifter serial killer that lured women into lair before/during/after the event.

The Devil in the White City
            
                Illinois

Patrick Book

Some incredible stories intersecting in an incredible way. 

Why doesn't anyone do world's fairs anymore? Are modern people too hard to impress?

Ryan Mateyk

Erik Larson does an incredible job at really immersing the reader into the subjects of his stories, thanks to brilliant writing and exhaustive research.

Abbie Duggan

This book was like trying to read two stories at the same time and feeling unsatisfied with both. I couldn’t wait until it was over.

Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

Laura Mauler

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.

In all, a really terrific book.

Jayme Cochrane

3.5 stars. Two disconnected stories that would have worked better as two books. Trying to weave them into one novel didn’t always go well.

Still some great, great writing. Describing the slaughterhouse district of Chicago as “a chinook of putrefaction” stuck with me.

Lara Engle

Contrary to my expectations, this book was at least three-quarters world fair and less than one-quarter serial killer. But that turns out to be just fine. I learned so many things about the 1893 Columbian Exposition as well as the development of American cities and Midwestern ingenuity. Aside from the danger of being murdered, it made me want to go back in time and experience the fair: the magic, the wonder, and especially the Ferris wheel!

Lamia Hajani

A good blow by blow account of the Worlds Fair and the notoriety of H.H. Holmes. Learned a lot of information. Kind of boring at times.

Wynter

I've had this book on my shelves since 2007, and here I am - finally picking it up. I can't even explain what took me so long. The Devil in the White City contains two stories: that of the construction of the Chicago World Fair by a prominent architect, and another of a sinister serial killer. Both stories are connected by the excitement, splendour, and novelty that the White City brought to Chicago on the brink of the 20th century. 

A marvellously written account, I must say. In the acknowledgment section of the book, the author mentions his multiple re-reads of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote in an attempt to recreate a similar psychological approach to his criminal subject, and it shows. I only wish that he had more solid materials to work with for the parts on H. H. Holmes, because these need to be expanded substantially in terms of timelines and details, but you cannot blame Larson for his decision not to embellish. Excellent true crime story and a very adequate historical snapshot of a grande event. I wish I could see the World Fair with my own eyes... minus the serial killer lurking in the background, of course :)

victoria

Not what I expected. I started the book thinking it would be another true crime, however, it was a little different than expected since the author separates the story as two separate stories that gradually complement each other. Some chapters are about the crimes and the arrival of H. H. Holmes in the city while others are about the Columbian Fair in Chicago where the Americans tried – and failed miserably – to compete with the Eiffel Tower exhibition.

To sum it up, it's a great book but it wasn't for me, I practically only got into the reading at the last 20%. Maybe if you like the subject you'll love the book. The author is very rich in details about the fair and maybe that's what made the reading very boring for me, I had to skip a few pages because it was just repetition of things he had already detailed a thousand times. Holmes had beautiful blue eyes, we get it you don't need to describe them every five pages!

 Anyway, I'm not very interested in architecture, however in true crime I do so I found Holmes' story very interesting. What kind of power did this guy have over others? I'm still shocked at how it's possible that he could just convince anyone – even groups of people – to do what he wanted, even if it was an extremely crazy request. In fact, the country must have some plague, because it's not possible, a serial killer, the fair going completely wrong and even the titanic all at THE SAME TIME. And after the Holmes trial, most of the investigators involved simply died without any explanation, like wtf??!!!

Kristen Claiborn

I get unnecessarily excited when a friend reaches out to me about a book. Any book. I don’t care what book, I jump for joy. A friend of mine asked if I had ever read this one, and after reading the description, I was intrigued. I hadn’t read it yet, so I immediately grabbed it from overdrive and dug right in. I was excited to talk to a friend about a book. 
	This book is very thorough…VERY. It alternates between the World’s Fair and HH Holmes, spending significantly more time on the World’s Fair. To be fair (hahaha, see what I did there?), there are a lot of characters that need to be discussed when offering a history of the Chicago World’s Fair, so it makes sense, but that didn’t make it more interesting. The H.H. Holmes story is incredibly fascinating. Those of us who seek out books like this one are aware of that story, and I was honestly hoping for more information that I didn’t already know. This book doesn’t deliver much of that. While there were some new details I wasn’t previously aware of, those details were minor. I was pretty disappointed. 
	BUT, the information on the World’s Fair is mind-boggling. I had very little knowledge of that even prior to reading this book, so I had no idea how huge it was, and how daunting the planning became. It’s amazing that the city of Chicago managed to pull it together (and now I know where the Ferris wheel came from! I had no idea!). An entire city was planned, developed, and maintained! That’s amazing! I will admit, however, that this book reads like a textbook. It’s pretty dry. There are so many players, it was hard to keep track of who was who, again, very textbook-like. I felt like I needed to take notes. That’s not exactly what I want from a book (unless it is, indeed, a textbook). Alas, that’s what dragged down the star rating for this book. It’s interesting, but kinda bland.

Christine W

I just want more and more like this. Love Erik Larson

Jayme Bosio

I had such a hard time getting into this book, but luckily I'm reading this for a book discussion so I was forced to muddle through it. I didn't care about the background of the fair and how it got built, but once it opened the descriptions of the fair were truly breathtaking and I found myself despondent that I could never see the fair in all its glory. The author did a great job of transitioning between the two stories of Burnham's Columbian Exposition and Holmes' macabre hotel, but I would have preferred more Holmes and a little less Burnham (and a whole lot less Olmstead).

audrey

didn't finish bc i hate nonfiction, but a good book nonetheless.

Avery Baumel

And thus begins (except not really because it's a multiyear thing) the enhancement of the true-crime genre in my library... serial killers live laugh love life. actually this was pretty bad it gets 3/5 because of the writing 4/5 for the plot/concepts

Rick Dobrowolski

Not the best historical non-fiction I've read, but also far from the worst. I liked it and didn't like it depending on which section of the book I was in. The author seemed to take a wholly depressing look at the events surrounding Chicago's World Fair and very little positive was mentioned. Surely there were some good things happening there as well to talk about?

Erik Larson definitely had my attention though. He is evidently a good researcher. He also is great with his usage of descriptions and keeping a story moving. This was the first book of his I read and it left me wanting to read more.

Celeste Richardson

Full review now posted below!

Every time I hesitantly open a non-fiction book I think, “Maybe this time. Maybe I won’t hate this one.” And every time, I’m wrong. On the one hand, since History is one half of my dual B.A. Degree, I find the material interesting and respect the research that went into writing a book like The Devil in the White City. A book such as this one required tremendous time and dedication to write. How could I not respect that level of effort? On the other hand, I was bored to tears. Or to slumber. Either way, I had to muscle my way through it.

Half of this book was the tale of America’s first serial killer, which I thought would be fascinating. But Holmes was no Jack the Ripper and, while interesting, wasn’t as compelling to read about as more brutal, hands-on killers. I know that sounds incredibly morbid, but it’s true. He was a fascinating fellow, but a bland killer. The building of the World’s Fair held in Chicago would have been much more palatable (for me) if it had been shortened to merely the highlights. Burnham was a self-made man who secured his future through that Fair, but he and his compatriots were not captivating enough to demand half of a four-hundred page book, in my opinion. I got incredibly bogged down in the details of the architecture, though the Fair sounded absolutely breathtaking. At the risk of sounding childish, I wish there had been more photographic representation of the Fair and less mind-numbing description.

There were two parts of this book that I really enjoyed, the first being learning about various inventions unveiled at the fair. I was aware of Cracker Jacks and the Ferris Wheel being unveiled at the Fair. But who knew that zippers and Wrigley’s gum and Aunt Jemima’s Ready-Made Pancake mix all got their start at the world’s largest gathering up to that point in history? And bless whoever invented the automatic dishwasher, which was also unveiled at the Fair. I don’t know about you, but that’s an invention that I’m incredibly thankful for. 

I also really enjoyed learning about Detective Geyer, the Pinkerton man who finally brought Holmes to justice. Geyer’s dedication to finding the missing Pitezel children, Howard, Nellie, and Alice, led to the uncovering of Holmes’ other dark deeds. The majority of Americans followed the case religiously, and Geyer became America’s Sherlock Holmes. I love anything Sherlock related, so that make my little nerd heart happy.

Did I enjoy this book? Bottom-line: no. It was interesting on an intellectual level. I learned a lot. It gave me fodder for future lulls in conversation. But it wasn’t entertaining, and I read to be entertained. I’m an escapist, after all. Larson should be applauded for his hard work, but his book read like a dissertation to me. Most non-fiction does. And I can never seem to make myself enjoy reading anything factual. Now, if something is based on reality, I can get behind that. On occasion, anyway. But unless there’s magic and swords and a plethora of events that could never actually happen, I just don’t have much interest. That’s not to say that I don’t like truth in my fiction. In my opinion, the best fiction proclaims some truth that often gets lost in the shuffle of real life. Give me dragons with morality. Give me fairytales that jump of the page and whisper veracity in my ear. Give me fantasy that proclaims something. It moves me more than nonfiction any day.

Melanie Richards

Such a complex tale, I really enjoyed it. I feel as though this is such a forgotten piece of American history, and it was really great to read about it.

Kelsi Proulx

This read was closer to 3.5 stars for me. I felt like there was far too much going on to fully grasp what was happening.

The book tells the story of the World's Fair in Chicago, 1893, as well as the story of a famous serial killer, H.H. Holmes, operating at the same time. I honestly feel like this is enough material to write two separate books and tell both stories more effectively.

I did enjoy the writing style though. I often have trouble reading history books because I find them very dry. This is not the case with Erik Larson. He manages to write in such a way that completely enveloped me and inspired me to continue reading. The book also concerned subject matter that I most likely wouldn't have chosen to learn about otherwise.

Overall a worthwhile read.

Wynn Netherland

A fascinating look at the emergence of Chicago in the late nineteenth century. Larson seamlessly weaves two otherwise unrelated storylines–the struggle to build the 1893 Columbian Exposition and a disturbing true crime story of serial murder.

Bill Mazza

murder, magic and madness at the fair that changed America

devil in the White City

gracyn neely

great historical book and murder mystery combination. story telling is great and it was cool to read about the chicago world fair.

Maytal

I'd say this is a 3.5 and would recommend as a good summer read that is easy to pick up and get through. Learned a lot about the Chicago World Fair, and a little about the serial killer Holmes. Lots of interesting factoids but also really repetitive... the amount of times I was told that Holmes had "electrifying blue eyes that you could never forget" got a little out of hand.

Emily S

This book got me into nonfiction, because it is so compelling that it reads just like fiction!! Would definitely recommend!

The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, Madness, and the Fair that Changed America

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