Rating: 
Summary: Hard to believe it's not fiction! Easy to recommend!
Review: Can the juxtaposition of a story about a serial killer and the 1893 Chicago's World Fair work? "The Devil in the White City..." proves it can.
Either tale, presented by an author as talented as Erik Larson, can make for compelling reading. The seemingly dubious decision to mix the two is a resounding success.
Meet Daniel H. Burnham, primary architect of the fair's white city. Meet H.H. Holmes, an outwardly charming, handsome man who lured, seduced and murdered dozens of young women. These two quite opposite, but equally intriguing personalities are fully revealed, as are numerous other characters (it was often hard to believe the book was NOT fiction). There are also guest appearances by various luminaries of the time such as Susan B. Anthony, Buffalo Bill, Grover Cleveland, Archduke Ferdinand and more.
An amazing time in U.S. History with an amazing assortment of people.
Larson presents the entire panorama of this pivotal period in the country's history while focusing on two main figures. One heroic (yet, like all of us, flawed) the other, outwardly so pleasant, yet at heart a veritable devil.
Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: not easy to follow - too wordy
Review: I thought this book would be good in the beginning, but after about pg. 100, became very bored with the story. Even the story of Dr. Holman did not hold interest. I felt that he made the story too difficult to follow. Granted, there were some interesting facts I discovered, but I don't think I would recommend this to anyone
Rating:
Summary: The title is misleading
Review: The title should have been "Devil in or about the vicinity of the White City". While either story would have been intersting only the facts on the White City seem sure. Much of the detail about Dr. Holmes is at best a surmise.
Rating:
Summary: Moving, Revealing--Even Haunting
Review: Erik Larson's book succeeds brilliantly on multiple levels--as a period piece; as a history of 19th century industry, invention, and architecture; as a revelation of civic pride and conflict; and as a glimpse into the mind of a psychopathic killer. What one can learn from this book is remarkable, stretching from the invention of the Ferris Wheel and electric lighting to the introduction of such Americana as Shredded Wheat and Cracker Jack. By any measure, "The Devil in the White City" is a rich, rewarding read. I haven't been so entranced since...since I took my first Ferris Wheel ride.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended to everyone except the squeamish
Review: This is a fascinating bit of semi-fictionalized nonfiction. (I know the author reports that he adopted a strictly fact-oriented stance, but any time someone can tell you what a person was thinking before they died, let's face it -- they're guessing). The serial killer angle will draw in new readers, but in fact the story of the building of the "White City" is the more gripping narrative. The author does a wonderful job of describing how that event shaped American history, and continues to resonate in the events that we take for granted. The details of the crime are presented in a way that's chilling, but not gratuitously gory. I've recommended this one to most people I know.
Rating:
Summary: over-rated
Review: This book had a great deal of potential. The two topics covered are extraordinary. Very different and very interesting. The coverage of the fair is superficial and boring. A significant majority of the topic is spent talking about one person's obsession with the landscape. It seems that the author found alot of material regarding this individual and focused the account on grass,plants, water, etc. Too much foliage.
The coverage of the mass murderer is also superficial. It seems the author is filling in a great portion of the account and the rest if left up to the reader.
I am 3/4 done with the book and desperately want to throw it out. Unfortunately, I keep reading it, mainly because the topics are so interesting and I hope to get to the good part of the book. Disappointment. Don't waste your time.
Rating: 
Summary: It's the Binks Spray Gun, not the Millet
Review: The book is a good until page 175. Here the author purports that Frank Millet invented the paint system that made the White City white, when it was Joseph Binks who invented it and provided it to the fair. Joe invented it prior to the fair when faced with painting the huge basements at the Marshall Field's store where he worked as an engineer.After all, the spray paint gun is called a Binks, and the fact that Joe's invention made the White City white in an incredibly short time is what made his company, Binks Spray Sytems, later Binks Manufacturing, an international success shortly after the fair. Who has ever heard of a Millet Spray Gun? Unfortunately, this type of error causes all the facts in the book to be questioned.
Rating:
Summary: The Devil in the White City
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially reading about the economy of the U.S. at this time and the determined risks the architects and artists took. It was fascinating to see the Disney name and others.
Rating:
Summary: Impossible To Put Down...Or To Forget
Review: It's a cliche, perhaps, to describe a well-written work of non-fiction as reading like a novel, but the phrase truly applies to Erik Larson's "The Devil in the White City." The dual tale of Daniel Burnham, famed architect and director of wotks for the 1893 World's Fair, and H.H. Holmes, who carried out despicable acts of torture and murder the proverbial stone's throw away from the great event, does seem more like a work of the imagination than a re-telling of things that really happened. But if you have doubts, you need only check the extenstive listing of notes and sources in the back of the book. One note of disappointment I've seen from some reviewers is the fact that the paths of Burnham and Holmes never directly crossed. I think Larson puts it well in the introduction to his notes when he wrote, "The juxtaposition of pride and unfathomed evil struck me as offering powerful insights into the nature of men and their ambitions." It's amazing to realize that this fair gave us all kinds of things, from shredded wheat to the Ferris Wheel, that are still part of our everyday lives today. Even though all of this happened more than a century ago, Larson imbues the tale with drama, suspense and brings these men and women back to life with consummate skill. It's a book well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Know Muich About History
Review: I confine myself to mystery; a history book is the fastest route to a good night's sleep for me. But oh, this book! How could I have not known of this centuries-old story, what with being a True Crime Reader all my life? After Winnie the P, the first book I remember reading was Crime and Punishment . For 52 years I held to this impossibly high standard. But upon finishing thgis book, I marveled "this is the best book I ever read." Flawless research without distracting minituae. Best quote ever: "Fetch me a family of the vicious little midgets." The author can't possibly top this flawless meld of evil, grandeur, and the American dream.
|
