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9.31k reviews for:
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Erik Larson
3.87 AVERAGE
9.31k reviews for:
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Erik Larson
3.87 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
I loved this. Almost read like fiction. Loved how unexpected historical figures like Baum and Disney showed up from time to time.
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I am not a fan of nonfiction, and actually put this book off a couple of times to read my beloved fiction. Once I finally picked it up, however, I had to keep double-checking that it was truly a work of non-fiction - it read like a novel! And then, when I had finally convinced myself that it was true, I kept wondering - how have I never heard about ANY Of this?!?!? Especially living so close to Chicago for 10 years of my life. The weaving together of the serial killer's experiences with the high drama of building the World's Fair was genius. Higly recommend!
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
Very interesting story, exposition was a bit tedious to get through for me personally.
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
As someone who has had a love for Chicago for years, reading this made that even stronger. If you’re interested in Chicago, cities, history or architecture. This is a no-brainer.
However, if you’re only looking for a true crime focused book on a murders. This may not be the book for you.
If I weren’t so interested in the other topics listed earlier, and only wanted to hear about the murders around the 1893 World Expo, I would have stopped reading.
That’s being said...it’s phenomenal. I will be talking about this for weeks, sorry everyone!
However, if you’re only looking for a true crime focused book on a murders. This may not be the book for you.
If I weren’t so interested in the other topics listed earlier, and only wanted to hear about the murders around the 1893 World Expo, I would have stopped reading.
That’s being said...it’s phenomenal. I will be talking about this for weeks, sorry everyone!
This wasn’t exactly what I expected. I expected the story of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair to be just a backdrop to the story of the atrocities of serial killer Henry H. Holmes. It turns out that Larson was telling two separate stories that just happened to take place at the same time in the same city. At first I found the abrupt switching back and forth between the stories a little jarring, but I eventually became immersed in the narrative which was a tale of two architects - an architect of beauty and an architect of death.
Larson’s contrast of the two charming and attractive men – one designing and building a castle of fear and death and the other designing and creating a city of awe and beauty – was fascinating. Surprisingly, I found the story of the World's Fair much more interesting than the story of the serial killer. The two main stories are also peppered with appearances from historical celebrities and other memorable news events from the period. Larson weaves in primary source material such as newspaper articles, correspondence, contracts and other legal documents, and menus and programs from events to really bring the people and their stories to life.
I wasn’t very impressed with Larson’s writing style. He tended to be very repetitive. Either he didn’t remember that he had already offered certain facts or observations before, or he has a very low estimation of his readers’ intelligence. He also used foreshadowing verbiage throughout the two stories that was reminiscent of the script for the sensationalist television crime show “City Confidential”. But Larson IS a good story-teller, and if you can overlook the repetition and his almost comical foreshadowing technique, you will enjoy this tale of two architects.
Larson’s contrast of the two charming and attractive men – one designing and building a castle of fear and death and the other designing and creating a city of awe and beauty – was fascinating. Surprisingly, I found the story of the World's Fair much more interesting than the story of the serial killer. The two main stories are also peppered with appearances from historical celebrities and other memorable news events from the period. Larson weaves in primary source material such as newspaper articles, correspondence, contracts and other legal documents, and menus and programs from events to really bring the people and their stories to life.
I wasn’t very impressed with Larson’s writing style. He tended to be very repetitive. Either he didn’t remember that he had already offered certain facts or observations before, or he has a very low estimation of his readers’ intelligence. He also used foreshadowing verbiage throughout the two stories that was reminiscent of the script for the sensationalist television crime show “City Confidential”. But Larson IS a good story-teller, and if you can overlook the repetition and his almost comical foreshadowing technique, you will enjoy this tale of two architects.
3.5 stars
This was like reading 2 very long research papers - one about a legendary serial killer and the other about the World Faire in Chicago. It's about an event in US history that was very important, yet I hardly knew about it. I found parts of this incredibly fascinating and others very boring. All in all, a very impressive book that I'm glad I read.
This was like reading 2 very long research papers - one about a legendary serial killer and the other about the World Faire in Chicago. It's about an event in US history that was very important, yet I hardly knew about it. I found parts of this incredibly fascinating and others very boring. All in all, a very impressive book that I'm glad I read.