The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
This New York Times bestseller intertwines the true tale of the 1893 World's Fair and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. 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.
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Community Reviews
This book is mostly about the billing and creation of the 1893 World Fair in Chicago and the unfortunate series of events surrounding it from mysterious deaths, architectural failures and the draw of a notorious serial killer. This book was painful to read mostly because of the flow did not focus on any particular character but mostly just constant side tracks. I find the reviews more entertaining then how this book turned out to be.
I struggled with this book. I think it was the amount of people that were being written about. I had a hard time keeping them all straight at times, especially because their names were so similar. I enjoyed the history of the Chicago fair though and that there were so many things invented/built that is still being used to this day. Overall a good book.
Never has murder (or architecture) been so boring. I don't understand why it was necessary to combine the story of the World's Fair in Chicago with the serial killer just because he happened to operate at the same historical time and place. Just felt like two different books jammed together. Or was the point that the fair killed as many people as the serial killer?
4 stars.
Another great Erik Larson! Now I’m off to google even more about the World’s Fair, which honestly I found more interesting than H.H. Holmes at times.
Another great Erik Larson! Now I’m off to google even more about the World’s Fair, which honestly I found more interesting than H.H. Holmes at times.
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