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Tarfumes.com - The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
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List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $10.17
Your Save: $ 4.78 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Vintage
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.15230977311
EAN: 9780375725609
ISBN: 0375725601
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 447
Publication Date: 2004-02-10
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: 2004-02-10
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Reviews:
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Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson's spellbinding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men--the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair, striving to secure America’s place in the world; 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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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Serendipity Does Not Literature Make
Comment: I must admit. I don't get it. Two books with grotesque murders related in gory detail against backgrounds of world historical events the intersections of which have little to do with each other. There is a bit of a problem with partially fictionalized history. It becomes a little like infomercials. How much info and how much mercial? And does the fiction begin to stand for the real history rather than admitting when it comes to history there is a lot we don't know and may never know as much as we would like our understanding of the past to read like a novel? It does not and maybe never can. I know a superb writer/historian/anthropologist who has filled an excellent book with words his hero might have said, and the hero in his old age came to believe that the fictionalized account was indeed what he had done. That is a touching confirmation but nonetheless a distortion. Holmes, the villain of this book may have gotten sexual gratification while listening to his victims being gassed to death and I guess that titillates the reader, but the author has no real idea of Holmes' state of mind. Also the Chicago World's Fair had little to with Holmes' murders and the reverse. Then as an extra the author throws in the murderer of Chicago's mayor by an unbalanced newspaper distributor. Yes there were nuts, as there have always been--- John Hinckley, Jr. shot Reagan because of a crush on Jodie Foster---and girls have always disappeared. Both Chicago's painted ladies and the Fair's commotion were not unique. So it is all a literary artifice. I am not sure readers would have been interested in the social history of the Fair without the murders.
As to that social history, it is interesting. Larsen has done a formidable amount or research and presents it in an interesting manner. But Larsen often lapses into purple prose. The biggest, greatest, etc. It gets a bit tiresome and is not true of history. That Westinghouse beat Edison with alternating current I don't think can be attributed to the Fair. And so it goes. Were it not for books on tape, grinding California traffic, and too many hours in a car, I would not have made it through the book. Fast forwarding helps. I must admit that I skipped a lot of detail such as Olmstead's various ailments and even his theory of color but found myself going back to the murder. Yet I could have done without some of the gory stuff. I don't quite understand how Holmes got away with it. But then I guess Larsen does a good job of conveying his charm even if that might have been somewhat fictionalized. With the murderer, he is so unimportant to history that it doesn't really matter. Lots of people who read fiction will like this book a lot more than I did and maybe they will thereby learn some history. I am all for that.
Charlie Fisher, author of Dismantling Discontent: Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World
Customer Rating:
Summary: magical
Comment: not many books transport you to a time of great changes like this one does. for the too brief of period I have lived in the book I have lived the rise of a nation and the dawn of great evil and vision. wonderfull depictions, great people and amzing time.
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Summary: Like the preparation for the Olympics in China - not everything is as it seems
Comment: Especially in light of the current spectacle that is the 2008 Olympics held in China - Devil in the White City is a fascinating read. The book tells a story of the quest to outdo the Paris World's Fair at which the Eiffel Tower was showcased. The book also tells of the stark contrast between the "white" and "black" cities - both a part of the landscape. The story of H.H. Holmes is an eerie tale of evil that is part of the white city, which is thus not as pure as it seems. Just as the U.S. emerged at the turn of the century with newfound respect of having accomplished the impossible (even with the fair's flaws), today we are seeing China strive to present itself as a thoroughly modern and capable of making the impossible come true. Very topical read with present day themes that are hard to miss.
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Summary: Exciting History
Comment: Loved it from start to finish! Wanted it to never end. As an enthusiest of non-fiction, I was pleased with all of the interesting tidbits of history as well as the main "plot". I never review anything but this is worth spreading the news about. Read it 1st, then get the audio CD for a trip. I could read it again and again.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very entertaing!
Comment: Not too many people these days have heard of the infamous Doctor HH Holmes or the Columbian Exposition. Both were major news stories over a hundred years ago, but now are forgotten.
This book aims to change that, and it does so admirably. You get a real feeling of what life was like in Chicago and, indeed, much of America in the Guilded Age. You also see that serial killers like John Wayne Gacey, Ted Bundy and others are hardly a new development in crime.
What I found particularly fascinating about this story was reading about the logistics involved in creating something like the Columbian Exposition. It must've been a wonderful sight to see! I only wish it had survived into the modern age.
If, like me, you have an interest in the Guilded Age I could hardly find a book I'd recommend more! An excellent read.
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