Rating: 
Summary: A Haunting Journey of Heights & Depths
Review: A good, fast read - especially for Gilded Age buffs like me, but certainly not limited to us. Larson weaves the fascinating story of the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition with the dastardly doings of a psychopathic fiend. Odd combination, but effective. We are transported in time to the excessive age of enormous wealth and grinding poverty - the "White City" of the Exposition and the dark, demonic "Castle" of Dr. H.H. Holmes. Surprisingly, it turns out the odyssey of Exposition head architect Daniel Burnham and the fascinating characters surrounding him are often more compelling than the blue-eyed, charming devil himself. There are on the one hand, the leading architects of the East, hesitant about committing their sturdy reputations to the city of meatpackers - Olmstead, McKim, Hunt, St. Gaudens. And later the mystery engineer whose feat rivals the Paris Exposition's great Eiffel Tower. On the other hand, the 'Chicago' characters, sketched in sharp relief, even those appearing for brief moments at the Fair - sage architect Louis Sullivan and the budding Frank Lloyd Wright; immensely popular Mayor Harrison; white-clad, white-haired Buffalo Bill; the 'dancer' Little Egypt; pygmies and giants from Africa; President Cleveland, "immense in black...[he] touched the gold key" that set the massive fair in motion; Archduke Francis Ferdinand, whose taste ran to Chicago's high-class brothels, not the exhibitions; the eccentric Spanish Infanta Eulalia, munching on German sausages; haughty Mrs. Potter Palmer, always diamond-drenched and offended; the insane assassin Prendergast; a (temporarily) deathly ill Mark Twain -- even professor Woodrow Wilson makes an appearance, and the surprises continue. But the star of the Chicago Fair was Burnham and his heroic/dictatorial reign over the incredible creations of the White City (Larson's description of the dimensions and details of the Fair are an absolute must-read). Holmes' story is appropriately secondary to the Fair's larger-than-life drama. But it is indispensable to the vast human drama of America/Chicago in 1893. The all-consuming drive of the national energy, technology, and most of all, money, accounted for both the soaring dreams of a future America embodied in the (short-lived) neo-classical enlightenment of the White City, and the evil soul of humanity laid bare by the dreams' very creation. A haunting book, with some flaws (a little less speculation & more photos needed), but well worth the journey from the heights to the depths.
Rating: 
Summary: Good analysis of two true intertwined stories
Review: Larson writes in beautifuly thought out prose. The downside of this, however, is that the book sometimes feels more like a novel than a historical interpretation of one of the most important but least recognized events in U.S. history - the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. But overall, this is an excellent book. When the Fair was awarded to the underdog - Chicago - many people, including its creators, often doubted if they could pull the Fair off with the limited time they were alloted and with the granduer needed to show up the amazing Fair Paris had recently held in 1889. Larson covers the Fair from its conception to its magnificence to its destruction, and does so brilliantly. The second story included in Larson's book is the history of a serial killer. Larson, I thought, does a good job at the incredibly difficult task at getting into the mind of the killer. I found some of the discoveries a bit disturbing, but in a fascinating way. This book definately kept my attention and I recommend it to anyone interested in recent U.S. history.
Rating:
Summary: Jack the Ripper pales in comparison
Review: THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY is really two books in one. The "White City" is the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and it summarizes the trials the architects went through to get the fair ready in a short amount of time. We are introduced to the driving force, architect Daniel Hudson Burnham, to Frederick Law Olmsted (designer of Central Park in New York) the landscape artist, and to George Ferris, inventer of the Ferris Wheel, the centerpiece of the World Fair and Burnham's bid to outdo the Eiffel Tower. Ohmstead is probably the most interesting of these stalwarts in that I was not aware of what a tortured genius he was. He suffered from toothaches, depression, chronic insomnia and an almost pathological perfectionism. Erik Larson throws in the assassination of Mayor Carter Harrison and a scorned Buffalo Bill Cody to add a little flavor.
The "devil" in the title is Dr. Henry H. Holmes (real name Herman Mudgett) who built a hotel to lure unescorted young ladies during the fair and disposed of them by smothering them with chloroform or by gassing them. Because the police were so distracted by the fair, no one was really aware of what this fiend was doing, despite the many complaints lodged by relatives. It's a wonder Holmes isn't more well known. Jack the Ripper pales in comparison. Some estimates surmise that he murdered up to a hundred women and children.
This segment of the book really picks up steam when Detective Frank Geyer enters the picture and begins to track three of Holmes' youthful victims. Geyer was one of those plodding, relentless types who don't get much attention in American folklore, but they always get their man.
Holmes wrote a number of "biographies." There's a quote from him at the beginning: "I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing." Holmes defines the word "psychopath" and seemed to murder for fun more than anything else.
Rating:
Summary: Good reading, fair writing
Review: On the plus side, this book is filled with fascinating information (more than you ever thought you'd want to know) about the Columbian Exposition. However, the other half of the book, the exploits of H. H. Holmes, left me wanting. For every fully-developed chapter regarding the Fair, we sometimes got only a page or two on Holmes. The book left me feeling a bit off-balance, in that regard. As a writer, Larson did two (well, three, actually) things that frustrated me. (1) He frequently used the literary trick of introducing information on a subject and not revealing the subject's name until the last sentence in the chapter/section (see the name of this ship that Frank Millet was riding on, mentioned on page two, not revealed until the second-to-last page, as an example). I felt it was over-used. (2) Larson obviously is an amazing researcher, but I think it would have helped the pacing of this book if someone had asked that he trimmed some of the less-than-relevant information out. (3) His metaphors were, at times, jarring. For example (page 35): "...heat rose from the streets with the intensity of a child's fever..." I'll say no more on this other than my own sensitivities tripped over this one and caused me to stumble down the page until I could right myself again and catch a breath. But let's put all of that aside. His information on the Fair was obviously mountains higher that what he had available of Holmes. And his literary quirks simmered down to mere oddities in my mind. I had an enjoyable time reading this book and would recommend it to anyone else with even a passing interest in Chicago's history and/or true-crime (or an interest in a unique blend of the two).
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic reading
Review: Reading this book makes you feel like you are a part of Chicago in 1891-94. The detailed description of the era as written by Erik Larson (sorry if I miss-spelled the name)is flawless. He seems to have a stranglehold on that particular time in history and makes the reader feel like, they are in that point in time. As a Chicago native born in 1963, this book provided a great, never explored vision of the City. I have and always will love the City of Chicago, but after reading this book, I will now know why. Keep up the good work. Sincerely,
A new fan, but not a fanatic (like Pendergast)
Rating:
Summary: "Devil" Hits Some Marks
Review: The author has done a meticulous job researching the dual subjects of the Columbian Exposition and America's first serial killer H.H. Holmes. While the book is a quick read, and often very interesting, it sometimes suffers from unnecessary repitition. Beyond that, I found myself craving detail that the author either chose not to provide or never found. I recommend this book for anyone with interests in Chicago, the Columbian Exposition and perhaps H.H. Holmes. With the possible exception of the Exposition, however, you'll be left a little "underfed" on the other topics. The end of the book was something of a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Best. Book. Ever.
Review: A facinating and wholly enjoyable book, especially anyone who loves Chicago. What a history! The huge undertaking of the World's Fair seemed genuinely immense and complicated and I found myself feeling sad that it no longer stands as the White City. There are parts of this book that are so amazing and humorous, and entail so many famous historical figures, I had to remind myself it was a work of complete non-fiction. The segments on H.H. Holmes are interesting, but not completely satisfying. I began to wish Larson had just stuck to the Fair, as it is a phenomenal story in it's own right. It's sad that there are no such things as World Fairs anymore.
Rating:
Summary: makes yew feel real gosh darned smart
Review: The truth is, I bided my time through the details of the architects and engineers and the world's fair to get to the guy who kills people. Although this is an excellent historical novel (and I don't think any of us should take it as nonfiction), without the sensational serial killer it would get lost in academia and only be read by the five kids taking a cross-concetrational seminar on the history of spending a whole lot of money to show off. As a Chicagoan, it made me wistful for such grandiosity, and definitely rang true with the message that the Windy city has an inferiority complex that it just can't shrug. I did like the book, and would recommend it for pool-side reading.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but novelized history
Review: This book introduces us to the making of the 1893 Chicago world's fair, known as the Columbian Exposition. Larson's hero is architect Daniel Burnham, who overcame huge obstacles to bring this project to fruition. Larson is persuasive in describing the achievements of Burnham and his allies, but less convincing when he argues that this extremely ambitious fair marked a turning point in American history. In parallel, Larson describes the actions of mass murderer H.H. Holmes, who was killing women in Chicago at that time. This seems an odd conjunction, as if the author were trying to leaven the Fair's history with a frisson of horror. A more serious criticism is that Larson invents the thoughts, feelings, and oral statements of many characters, apparently based on his own speculations. The book would have been interesting enough without going beyond the facts.
Rating:
Summary: A study in history and of murder
Review: Fascinating! Not having read anything else by Mr. Larsen, I approached this book without any preconceived notions as to what I might expect. It was not only a history lesson -- extremely well written and interesting -- but a study into the mind and actions of a serial killer. I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys history with a twist of intrigue. Mr. Larsen presents the material in such a manner as to take you right into the lives of all involved -- right to the very last sentence.
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