This well-researched book is so entrancing at times that you feel like you've gone back in time when you read it. The contrast of Chicago as it was before the fair...you can almost smell the dirty city. Once the exposition opens, you find yourself sensing what it must have been like for people of that era to experience some of the marvels of science (such as widespread use of electric lights) being displayed for the first time. You sense the wonder of people seeing the world's first ferris wheel. All in all, a fun book to read (especially if you know little about the Columbian Exposition).

The gore of the murders was kept to a thankful minimum; readers who are expected a chilling nonfiction murder mystery will be disappointed however.

More pictures would have been nice. Reading descriptions of the buildings and sites is one thing; seeing what they really looked like is quite another.


Entertaining, but superficial...   October 15, 2003
 26 out of 46 found this review helpful

First let me start by saying the above rating should really be 3.5 stars, but Amazon doesn't allow fractions. "The Devil in the White City", while better than mediocre is certainly not superior. Anyone picking up this book looking for the sub-title "Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America" will be sadly disappointed.

This book is an easy read. Erik Larson's writing is so engaging that it may not be immediately apparent to the reader that the book is actually quite poorly conceived. He strives mightily to intertwine the stories of HH Holmes & his Murder Mansion (one of the first serial killers to be covered by the contemporary media) & Daniel Burnham's efforts to oversee the building of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. Unfortunately, the stories really have little connection other than Holmes enticed victims to his mansion by advertising it as "The World's Fair Hotel".

If any murders took place on the site of the World's Fair, Larson never mentions it. The only magic is that of the illusion of beauty, created by the architects gathered under Burnham's direction. Madness? Larson briefly touches upon a minor madman named Pendergast who, 2 days before the conclusion of the Fair, murders the beloved Mayor of Chicago at the Mayor's residence.

The achievements of the 1893 World's Fair were certainly noteworthy. Even here tho, Larson cheats the reader. He includes few pictures of even the most noteworthy buildings. The incredible Ferris Wheel described within rates no picture at all. He spends over 200 pages building suspense in the reader as to how Burnham can possibly have the Fair ready in the time alloted, then skims over the final days with almost no descriptive detail. There must have been many fascinating stories to tell involving the visiting exhibits of Dahomey cannibals, Japanese priests, Cairo Street, yet the reader never hears them. What the reader does get is often quite irrelevant or tangential to the story at hand.

As for HH Holmes, a number of true-life crime writers have dealt with his criminal career in detail. Larson has no new research to add, no unique insights; as a matter of fact, he quotes the other writers extensively during the Holmes' segments. So, why even include him except as a footnote? The story of the Fair itself is certainly interesting and varied enough not to need the inclusion of an oft-discussed mad doctor.

Finally, I must note that for some reason known only to himself, Larson ignores the major contributions made to the White City by the leading architect of Gilded Age America : Stanford White. Although White's partner, Charles McKim is who attended the meetings of the Fair architects, it was well known at the time that McKim's contributions were all collaborations with his business partner Stanford White. White's name is not mentioned once in "The Devil in the White City". This glaring omission is typical of the superficial level on which the book exists.


Perfectly paced and constructed.   February 17, 2003
 23 out of 24 found this review helpful

I downloaded this book from Audible.com and listened as I did some work in my studio. What strikes me most about this book is the detailed research that went into the parallel story about the Chicago World's Fair and how it's woven around the story of the murders. Pleasant surprises are abound as little by little you get a sense of history based on the historical figures present and they are revealed very thoughtfully.
I would like to write more although I don't want to spoil the tale. But I can say that a chilling picture is painted with this book, made even more so as it goes on in the background of the preperation and construction of the World's Fair. It's like looking into a crowded room and reading the mind of the one insane individual mingling with the rest of society--and put into great and interesting historical context.