Rating: 
Summary: Wow!!
Review: Like many other reviewers here on Amazon, I, too, read Isaac's Storm and was impressed by Larson's ability to bring history and meteorology to vivid life. But this book far surpasses the first with the intricate interweaving of its two story lines. The juxtaposition of the splendor of the Columbian Exposition, and the obsessions of its creators, with the depravity of the methodical mayhem perptrated by H.H. Holmes, all set in the context of the Gilded Age is accomplished in a seemingly effortless manner. The prose flows beautifully, and it is almost as if the reader is being read to. I was mesmerized by the images painted, the personalities drawn and the palpable atmosphere of Chicago as a very vibrant, metamorphosing city. This was a book that was almost impossible to put down. Don't wait for the paperback-read it now!
Rating: 
Summary: succeeds in spite of itself, mostly
Review: The raw material is so interesting that the book is immensely readable in spite of the essentially cheap/florid quality of the writing. The author's underlining little asides and, more irritating, his coy withholding of information to create suspense--how many references to the "engineer" must we slog through before the author drops the other shoe and actually utters the name "Ferris"?--seem to me to reveal that the book is aimed at a lower (if not quite lowest) common denominator.A sterner editor might have helped.
Rating: 
Summary: The first Serial Killer of the modern age
Review: This book actually focuses just as much attention on the World's Fair as the serial killer who haunted the south side of Chicago in the late 1800's murdering at least 9 people, if not more. However, the murders are much more interesting, memorable, and shocking. It is amazing how these hideous acts have been forgotten yet Lizzie Borden is remembered for only killing her parents. This is a strange, yet facinating, tale of how naive young girls allowed themselves to be taken advantage of in the bustling city of Chicago. The aspects of the World's Fair are a bit overwhelming to a non-architect.
Rating:
Summary: Always Fascinating, Often Maddening
Review: "The Devil in the White City," gives us two stories brilliantly told in one book that is tarnished by two stories brilliantly told. It's maddening. Either story would have made a book of its own, but author Erik Larson decided to link them with no solder other than proximity of time and space. The story of Daniel Burnham and his army of architects, engineers, politicians, laborers, and hucksters building the Chicago Exposition does battle with the chronicle of Bluebeard style serial killer H.H. Holmes. The author's tact is to give us a chapter or two of Burnham followed by a chapter or two of Holmes resulting in a fit of stops and starts to each story. It wouldn't hurt the reading to mark Burnham's chapters against Holmes's and read each story separately - they are that disassociated. Burnham's story is a wonder of architectural and engineering invention in which an entire city, "the White City," is built in two years by 20,000 laborers during an economic depression. The effort was to rival, or better yet, surpass the Paris Exposition; but what could beat the Eiffel Tower? The first ever Ferris Wheel, with a 100 thousand pound axle, and thirty odd cars capable of holding sixty passengers apiece! Pretty good. Add landscaping by Olmstead, Little Egypt on the midway, and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show next door, and Paris was whipped again. Holmes. Another story. A genius of mass murder gassing young and innocent girls and disposing of their bodies in a home-made crematorium in the basement of his home-made hotel. Some he married and murdered, some he just murdered, and threw in a few children for sport. A thoroughly nasty character, brought to justice by an intrepid private eye. Like I said, great stories, but what they're doing alternating chapters only Eric Larson knows for sure. All in all, though, a hugely enjoyable read. The designer included maps inside the covers, but a photo section would have been a real plus. Four and a half stars!
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected, but still quite good
Review: I was hoping this book would be both beautiful and frightening, but it really only met the beautiful criterion. It's really more of a snapshot of a fair in Chicago in the late 1890s, including a lot of somewhat clinical and scholarly information about the fair and life in Chicago at the time. The murder and madness aspect of the story is a bit underdeveloped and actually quite boring. The characters were not really developed that thoroughly, as I found myself wanting to know more about what made them tick. On the other hand, the quality of writing is excellent and the book moves quickly enough to hold the reader's attention. Overall, still a pretty good book. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable tale --but treat the 'devil' part as quasi-fiction
Review: Bottom line is that I liked this book, and it's an interesting look at both Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893 (and in particular, the man behind said fair, Daniel Burnham) and the serial killer, H. H. Holmes, who has an eye for the women but an even bigger eye for chloroform, gas, dissection, and, well, you get the point. I'm a total geek for the architectural history lessons, and if you dig the whole Caleb Carr "Alienist" treatment (a treatment Carr does much better), you'll like the descriptions of old Chicago and the men who built it. The portrait of Fredrick Law Olmsted (the brilliant landscape architect responsible -- with Calvert Vaux -- for New York's Central Park and Prospect Park) is particularly vivid. Anyone who knows anything about Olmsted knows he was a neurotic sort, and Larson does a good job of getting that point across, along with the man's genius. That said, the other side of the tale -- the murder/mayhem -- is weak. Larson just doesn't have many primary sources to work with, and if you read the footnotes carefully you'll quickly figure out that he's guessing at a good chunk of this, drawing on newspaper accounts -- which he himself says are largely innaccurate -- as well as his own 'conclusions.' Personally, I'd like a second opinion on some of these conclusions. I think he takes a lot of liberties here. It's a riveting tale -- but it's a stretch to call this non-fiction. More like fictionalized non-fiction. With that caveat, enjoy.....
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Although the book is well written and researched, I was disappointed that the focus is more on the architects of the fair and less on H.H. Holmes, the murderer. The book is 95% about the building of the fair and 5% about the evil that lurked beneath it. I felt tricked by the title and the advertising about what I was buying
Rating:
Summary: A renaissance is planned as a killer engineers destruction.
Review: The imaginativeness, the tenacity and endurance required to bring about the creation of a "White City" (Chicago's World Fair of 1893) is synonymous with the qualities required of an author to research and structure a truly quality book such as "Devil in the White City". Like "Seabiscuit" the narrative could easily have fallen into a journalistic and documentary style. Neither book succumbed. The tension and intrigue kept both books on the edge, real page turners! That requires talent. When the reader becomes as burdened and frustrated as the chief architect, Burnam, because of endless details, fiscal issues and political infighting, the author turns to the evildoer, Holmes/Mudgett, and without being morbid leads the reader through the intricacies of his madness. What makes this book even more engrossing is that the author treats both of the principal characters as architects. Burnham is engaged in the planning of a city that will thrill and awe the world and Holmes is planning a hotel that will serve as a snare, execution chamber and crematorium. Adversaries abound. In Chicago, as the White City emerges, the weather takes center stage, as do fires, and inhospitable grounds that won't support the huge structures being planned. That's when still further human inventiveness emerges and novel architectural techniques are born. Holmes actually has an easier job with his adversaries. His smooth, psychopathic personality enables him to lie and charm his way out of satisfying his league of debtors and desperate families seeking women and children whom he has actually butchered. The reader will be kept on edge throughout this sizable tome, just waiting to see how Holmes (Mudgett deliberately named himself after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character) will meet his match, justice and his Maker. What has not been recognized till lately is that Holmes actually obliterated more people than did Jack the Ripper who gained far more notoriety. The research that went into this book is impressive, as the back of the book will attest. Finally, as an interesting aside, the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 gave birth to a number of products and a form of entertainment we take for granted today...Juicy Fruit Gum, Shredded Wheat and the Ferris Wheel. The Ferris Wheel was created to outdo the Eiffel Tower that was the centerpiece of the Paris World's Fair that had immediately preceded the Chicago World's Fair.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging, unique history
Review: In "The Devil in the White City" Erik Larson has produced a fascinating snapshot of the time surrounding the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. What makes this book unique, however, is that he has successfully juxtaposed the dazzling success of the fair with the gruesome exploits of a serial killer who haunted its edges. The end result is a book that captures more than just the fair, or the killer, but rather provides a remarkable look at America at the dawn of the twentieth century. Larson's narrative follows two interwoven stories in more or less alternating chapters. One line is that of Daniel Burnham, chief architect of the fair, and a man of immense, and under appreciated vision. Larson does a superb job of detailing the massive endeavor that Burnham undertook, and the brutally short timeline in which he had to accomplish it. A man of less ambition would have lost hope in the face of such immense obstacles, but Burnham not only persevered, but also triumphed. In a mere 22 months, he produced an exhibition that was an architectural triumph, which so dazzled its visitors that they came to call the fair "The White City". Moreover, his daring allowed the fair to actually turn a profit, a key victory in America's staunchly capitalist society. At the same time that Larson describes the triumph of the "White City" he details the depredations of a man who goes by many names, but who the reader comes to know as Holmes. In many ways, Holmes was America's answer to Jack the Ripper, but his notoriety faded over time, a victim of the enigmatic nature of his crimes. While the toll Holmes took is uncertain (from a certain nine victims up to an estimated, and perhaps implausible, 200), it is certain that he set up what was essentially a murder factory in his custom built commercial building/hotel/office. Complete with soundproof gas chambers and a basement fitted with a crematory, dissection table and acid vats. While these twin narratives may seem at odds, they actually compliment each other quite nicely. Both represent an ideal, opposite ends of a pole, and as a result, the reader is treated to a comprehensive view of the times that represents a whole, both good and bad. Some reviewers have complained that Larson's narrative digresses into areas not immediately pertinent (menus, news of the day, etc.) and that is true. However, it is these digressions that allow Larson to capture the true feel of the times; from the muck in the streets to the most exalted banquets, the reader is treated to a fascinating portrait of how people lived. The end result of all this detail, when combined with Larson's superb, almost conversational, style of writing, is a fascinating, immensely enjoyable book. "The Devil in the White City" reads like a novel, but is all the more intriguing because it is true. Larson has taken a little know murderer, combined him with a slightly better known fair, and produced a fascinating look at the United States 100 years ago. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A Vivid Picture of Chicago of the Era
Review: The Devil in the White City examines Chicago in the years 1891-1893. The book claims to focus on two men, but it's certainly not a dual biography. The scope expands to take in the Chicago-New York rivalry, the living conditions in Chicago, and the social and economic upheavals of the day. The main character of The Devil in the White City is really the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. The author follows the exposition through the full human life cycle, starting with the anticipation of the crowd awaiting its "birth" in the form of an announcement that Chicago has been chosen as its site to the close of the fair. And what a character it is! I found myself rooting for the exposition to make good. The chapter between the close of the exposition and the book's epilogue seemed oddly empty without it. Like the Stephen Ambrose books "Undaunted Courage" and "Nothing Like It in the World," The Devil in the White City is a story about Americans trying to accomplish a grand task. However, the smaller scale of this book makes it a more manageable read. I finished it in a weekend, and I never had to flip back to remember who the characters were. If you're looking for a true crime book, you may be disappointed. The author uses a modern psychological profile of a typical serial killer to reconstruct the character of H. H. Holmes. As sociopaths go, he's not that interesting. On the plus side, you do get to laugh at the naivite of the typical nineteenth century citizen. Disappearing neighbors? Strange odors in the hallway? Mysterious trunks hauled out late at night? No problem! Even the crematorium in the basement fails to arouse suspicions.
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