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

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James rated it:

(review of isbn 0553813536)

04/07/08

bookshelves: reviewed

Read in December, 2004

Heard the one about the architect and the serial killer? It's not a bad joke, but it is a great book. The architect was Daniel Burnham, the driving force behind the Chicago World's Fair of 1893; the killer was H.H. Holmes, a Svengali-type figure who lured young women to his hotel and did the most gruesome things, the least shocking of which was murder. The two men never met, but The Devil in the White City brings their stories together, and although it reads like a novel, everything is thoroughl...more

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Kristy rated it:

(review of isbn 0739303406)

08/19/07

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: anyone

Ohhhh, this book is creeeeeepy and all-true!!! Being from Chicago I was in an awful thrall the entire time. The only thing that was missing for me would have been some kind of map to show where exactly the Fair was located, and all the other buildings he talks about... I think the fair was probably located roughly on what the Museum Campus is now, but I still would like to see a map.

And the people! Burnham and Root and Atwood... and Carter Henry Harrison! It says his mansion was on Ashland,...more Ohhhh, this book is creeeeeepy and all-true!!! Being from Chicago I was in an awful thrall the entire time. The only thing that was missing for me would have been some kind of map to show where exactly the Fair was located, and all the other buildings he talks about... I think the fair was probably located roughly on what the Museum Campus is now, but I still would like to see a map.

And the people! Burnham and Root and Atwood... and Carter Henry Harrison! It says his mansion was on Ashland, I'm wondering exactly where. And Mudgett... I wonder where all of his buildings were... it sends chills up my spine just to think about it. I wonder if anyone has put together a tourist's map based on this book?

O.K., beyond my personal reasons for being fascinated, the writing is excellent, and really well documented. And the charming thing is that he documented everything in the back of the book in a really simple way, so if you were so inclined you would not have to be a big fancy scholar to follow his paper trail and see all of this stuff for yourself. Power to the people!

And the writing style is accessible and the voice is also very appropriate... he kind of veers between eulogist and undertaker. And the few times that he takes liberties and describes things that no one could ever really possibly have documented, he does so in a way that is careful and responsible. And I think for him not to have taken the liberties would have been a mistake... I think everyone who read the book would have thought there was something missing.

And what's ultimately really rewarding about this book is that the author outlines all the ways in which the influences of Fair of 1893 reverberated in American culture (and the world) for years afterward. Our aesthetic sensibility as a nation was permanently changed. And our technological sensibility. And to think that all of this was planned so fast, it was like a supernova in the middle of this underdeveloped backwater (oh, I said it. I live here now, and sometimes I still think of Chicago that way.). And that with all that progress comes this darkness, too, there's this underside to everything.

And with that lovely thought, I'm going to try and find the Wooded Island. Ciao!...less

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SCIENCEFICTION SQRL rated it:

(review of isbn 0375725601)

07/03/08

bookshelves: 100-books-2008, ees-book-chat, non-fiction

Read in July, 2008

recommended to SCIENCEFICTION SQRL by: Evil Editor
recommends it for: fans of architects

Here's how I imagine it went.

Larson: I wanna write a book about the architects who designed the World's Fair in Chicago. Also, pork.

Publisher: Nobody wants to read about architects. They're boring.

Larson: But the World's Fair--

Publisher: Boring.

Larson: The mayor gets murdered.

Publisher: When?

Larson: At the end.

Publisher: (yawns) Too late.

Larson: If I could find some juicy murders to spice it up...?

Publisher: We'd take a look.

This isn't so much a boo...more

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8 comments

Jude rated it:

(review of isbn 0739303406)

08/28/07

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: pretty much everyone.

My daily life is filled with non-fiction: facts that are collected to give information quickly and easily to a reader. When I read for enjoyment, I usually gravitate toward fiction.

I didn't realize this book was non-fiction when I bought it. I bought it because it came recommended from Katie, who has good book taste and hasn't steered me down the wrong path yet. When I read the back cover before beginning, I thought: what the hell did I get myself into?

Surprisingly, I found myself immed...more

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TheDane rated it:

(review of isbn 0375725601)

09/11/08

Read in September, 2008

recommends it for: anyone, really

Humour me and please allow the channeling an eighth grader for just a moment. OMG Squeee!!1 Teh best!! (Would an eighth grader say "teh best"?) And now we return you to our regularly scheduled review.

I'm not a huge fan of non-fiction. Scratch that. I'm a huge fan of non-fiction, but not so huge a fan of reading non-fiction. While I appreciate learning and broadening my understanding of the world around and as it once was, I find myself pretty quickly distracted from whatever...more

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Trena rated it:

(review of isbn 0739303406)

10/02/08

Read in September, 2008

recommended to Trena by: Stephen
recommends it for: Anyone with even a passing interest in history or psychopaths

I debated over whether to give this four or five stars. I usually give four stars to books I love but that might not be to everyone's taste, and five stars to books I think everyone would like. When I went on a (fruitless) search for this on the library's shelves, I was a little embarrassed to find myself in the True Crime section. I don't go in for the gruesome and garrulous "I know who killed me" genre; it strikes me as tasteless and sensationalist, and plus I feel that I have the...more

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Joan added it

06/16/08

I feel as though I ought to write two (or three) reviews of this book, because it consists of two (or three) stories: the creation of the Columbian Exposition of 1893, the murders committed by H.H. Holmes, and (peripherally) the assassination of Mayor Carter Harrison.

Larson's narrative jumps back and forth between these stories, without ever connecting them, and so the book leaves one with a very disjointed feeling, a feeling that something was left out, something that would show a relationshi...more I feel as though I ought to write two (or three) reviews of this book, because it consists of two (or three) stories: the creation of the Columbian Exposition of 1893, the murders committed by H.H. Holmes, and (peripherally) the assassination of Mayor Carter Harrison.

Larson's narrative jumps back and forth between these stories, without ever connecting them, and so the book leaves one with a very disjointed feeling, a feeling that something was left out, something that would show a relationship among the events described (or at least one more significant than that they occurred in the same city at the same time).

The book is worth reading for the history of the Columbian Exposition. Such an enterprise naturally left a great deal of source material for Larson to draw on, and he wisely chose to focus on the involvement Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmstead, the planner and the landscape architect. Both were not only interesting, brilliant men in their fields, but were inveterate diarists and letter writers, very helpful to the historian! It's a great saga, as Chicago is awarded the Fair with less than two years until its planned opening. Even though one knows, of course, that the Fair went off magnificently, one is on tenterhooks reading of the rivalries, the missteps, the difficulties. Will it open? Will it be ready? Excellent stuff.

The story of H.H. Holmes, serial killer, who lured young women to his oddly-constructed building near the Fair and gruesomely killed them, on the other hand, is badly told and unconvincing. Why so? The source material, for one, is lacking. Though Holmes wrote a memoir, and Larson also consulted the trial record [of H's murder trial in Philadelphia; he was never charged with the murders in Chicago:] and contemporary news accounts, the author seems to rely heavily on a couple of sensationalist books whose sources are not sufficiently accounted for. Naturally, one must take with a grain of salt the hindsight memories of those who, after Holmes' activities were known, "always thought there was something odd".

Larson also has an annoying habit, one which he shares with some other writers of non-fiction, of engaging in speculation and interpretation presented as fact. He describes thoughts and feelings of real people with no basis other than "it's likely". The difficulty is that the text is presented with no qualification, and it is only careful attention to the endnotes that reveals Larson's imagination is at work.
I'm not sure why he felt the need to weave in the thread about Harrison's assassination, other than the fact that it occurred a few days before the close of the Exposition and so affected the closing ceremonies. It was a curious event in Chicago history, the assassin was clearly a paranoid schizophrenic, but it doesn't contribute much to this history.

On balance, the book is good reading for the sections on the Exposition (and should be in any collection of Chicagoiana for that), and even the rest of it is somewhat redeemed by Larson's generally compelling narrative style....less

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Amy rated it:

(review of isbn 0375725601)

04/30/08

Read in April, 2008

Fascinating! I grew up in Chicago and each year we had a brief unit in school on the city's history: Carl Sandburg, The Jungle, railroads, Native Americans. But we never once touched on the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition (aka the World Fair) and I knew nothing at all about this amazing feat or the people involved until I read Larson's book.

I can't believe such an important time -- both for the city and the nation -- which introduced so much to American society has been so forgotten. Larso...more

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RA rated it:

(review of isbn 0375725601)

06/09/08

Read in June, 2008

Would recommend: Probably

I read The Devil in the White City in less than a week, and for a book of almost 400 pages, that's saying something. The story was very compelling, and I found the descriptions of late 19th-century Chicago fascinating. I feel the need to look up more about the Chicago World's Fair, as well as visit the city itself. The two main characters (I hesitate to use that term since they were real people) held up their own story lines very well, and it was, as they s...more

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Tracey rated it:

11/17/07

Read in November, 2003

Bought Oct 2007

I heard an interview with the author on the Diane Rhem show back in March 2003 & checked to see if the library had the book.

This book follows the development of the 1893 World's Fair and the murderous spree of one of America's first serial killers, Herman Webster Mudgett (aka H.H. Holmes) both occurring in the burgeoning city of Chicago. Larson alternates between the two narratives more or less a chapter at a time. The writing is superb, bringing to life the wor...more

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Maureen rated it:

(review of isbn 0739303406)

07/17/07

bookshelves: crime-law

Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: people interested in Chicago, architecture & city planning, serial killers, foreshadowing

I enjoyed Devil in the White City, particularly for the wealth of information (tons of great trivia!) in this novel-style nonfiction book. I probably would have appreciated it more, though, if I were from Chicago, a city planner or architect, or had a fascination with serial killers.

What was by far the most irksome for me was Larson's insistence on foreshadowing absolutely every character introduction and happening in the book. Some are clever, but this "one day, he would make headlines...more

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Anita rated it:

(review of isbn 0739303406)

03/02/08

Read in March, 2008

I really enjoyed this book. It is 2 parts history and 1 part psychological thriller.

The author does a great job of laying out the gravity and impact of the World's Fair in Chicago. The stature and "key players" were fascinating-- intertwining history and lore. I felt like I had attended a very interesting class on Chicago cerca turn of the nineteenth century.

The "Devil" was a side show really, but incredibly frightening and interesting all the same.

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

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Craig rated it:

(review of isbn 0553813536)

09/04/08

bookshelves: reviewed

Read in December, 2004

Heard the one about the architect and the serial killer? It's not a bad joke, but it is a great book. The architect was Daniel Burnham, the driving force behind the Chicago World's Fair of 1893; the killer was H.H. Holmes, a Svengali-type figure who lured young women to his hotel and did the most gruesome things, the least shocking of which was murder. The two men never met, but The Devil in the White City brings their stories together, and although it reads like a novel, everything is thoroughl...more

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Danielle rated it:

(review of isbn 0375725601)

09/27/08

bookshelves: non-fiction, stopped-reading

Read in September, 2008

So, no offense to those that liked this book, but I'm throwing in the towel after 75 pages. It's just not holding my interest. Part of the reason for this is that Larson's writing style is way too speculative for my taste in non-fiction. I just finished reading the Path Between Seas by David McCullough, and he does such an amazing job of making complicated, historical events interesting, without fabricating scenes that "coul...more

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11 comments

Nadine rated it:

(review of isbn 0739303406)

08/14/08

Read in January, 2008

This book kind of reminded me of the Alienist except for that it is true! It's really two stories side by side in alternating chapters, one about how the Chicago world fair was put together, and one about a serial killer who lived in Chicago at the time. I thought the book was very interesting. It was a kind of revolutionary time in many ways, with new inventions such as incandescent lights, electric motors and machinery, the Ferris wheel, etc. Tons of famous people either attended the fair o...more

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Polly rated it:

(review of isbn 0375725601)

07/18/08

Read in April, 2008

recommended to Polly by: book club

I have to give major props to my book club. We’ve pretty much run the gamut on genres. Last time we had a heart-wrenching piece of fiction that was based on historical events. This time we had The Devil in the White City, a historical account of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair that read like fiction (for the most part).

I was super psyched to read this for lots of reasons. First, I needed a book that would allow me to disengage, emotionally. The last one ripped my heart out. Second, ...more I have to give major props to my book club. We’ve pretty much run the gamut on genres. Last time we had a heart-wrenching piece of fiction that was based on historical events. This time we had The Devil in the White City, a historical account of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair that read like fiction (for the most part).

I was super psyched to read this for lots of reasons. First, I needed a book that would allow me to disengage, emotionally. The last one ripped my heart out. Second, it seems like in high school my history teachers never could make it past the Civil War. We’d set out with a syllabus that said we get to reconstruction and the industrial revolution, but somehow we always ran out of time. And this book promised to help me learn more about this country’s almost-modern history.

At first I was a little disappointed by this book. It was billed as something that read more like a murder-mystery than a historical account. And while it did read a lot better than a textbook would, it certainly did not feel like a newfangled Sherlock Holmes.

The constant bickering of the architects bogged me down in the beginning, too. Later, once you get knee deep into the fair, you start to realize why Larson needed to include this part but it was a bit tough to get through initially. To Larson’s credit, I think he may have realized how monotonous the architect’s arguments would be for his readers. Throughout each chapter there are section breaks, sometimes more than one per page, that allows you to say, “okay, enough for today,” and not feel like you’ve stopped at point that disrupts the narrative.

But then you get to the good stuff…and I may be the most morbid person alive…but the parts that really drew me in were the sections about Holmes, the murder. So often I’ve heard people say, “Criminals are really dumb! They don’t even plan stuff out so that they have a chance to get away! If it were me, I’d…” This is the one guy throughout history that carefully planned out his crimes in such a way that would almost eliminate the possibility of getting caught. It was intense and intriguing to see how his mind worked. Towards the end the cruelty of his actions got a bit much to bear, but thankfully most of the 390 pages were not filled with gruesome details.

And I did enjoy learning about some of the quirkier aspects of late 19th century American history. I won’t spoil some of the “surprises,” but it’s kind of cool to know how we ended up with some of the products/mechanisms that we take for granted today.

If you’re into American history or just looking for something a little different from the average fiction book, definitely pick this one up.

...less

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Kathleen rated it:

(review of isbn 0739303406)

06/29/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in October, 2007

recommended to Kathleen by: my daughter who lived in Chicago

I find serial killers quite interesting, and this book merged the story of a serial killer with the story of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. The author doesn't make it clear exactly what the serial killer did, but that's because authorities are not entirely certain how he killed and disposed of all the people that are attributed to him. He talked, once he was caught, but he didn't provide much in the way of details of that type.

Mingled with the serial killings is the story of how Chicago...more

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