The Devil in the White City

Rating:
Summary: I Can't Stop Listening!
Review: Short and to the point: I purchased the audio book of "The Devil in the White City" after reading a review in 'Bottom Line."

It's absolutely the most riveting listening I have ever heard, and it's some of the most fascinating, factually-driven prose I've ever listened to.

Do yourself a favor. Buy the audio book, but do not make the mistake of listening to it in heavy traffic.

It will take your mind off the road more than a cell phone,
squawling baby and drippy cheeseburger combined.

This is an audio book meant to be heard while driving on the
open road, at night with, perhaps, a little rain to heighten
the mood.

Guys like Erik Larson amaze me. Where do they get such wonderful
ideas for books? Then, where do they skewer up their talents and
guts to put it all together??

A wonderful listen. You will not regret it. But, be prepared
to rewind if your attention is even momentarily diverted. You won't want to miss a word, a phrase, a twist, or a fact.

Rating:
Summary: Despite Flaws, A Solid Exposition of Interesting Subjects
Review: I love finding books that take an obscure subject, discuss it thoroughly, and expose its significance to modern life. Given that predilection, it's no surprise that I found The Devil in the White City enjoyable. What did surprise me was the way that Larsen managed to make two seemingly diverse subjects interesting and relevant. Thanks to his thorough research, Larsen is able to vividly display the effect that both the Fair and Holmes had, and continue to have, on American life. However, without the energetic prose that he employs, this book would have been a boring study on dead subjects. Thanks to his writing style, Larsen makes the reader feel as though they are living the stories.

While the writing style is generally very effective, it does have its drawbacks. Larsen tends to end each section with a "cliffhanger" sentence. Obviously, he is trying to create some tension and suspense to keep the reader engaged. However, the material and the narrative are adequate to meet this goal. Thus, the "cliffhangers" just seem tedious. Additionally, Larsen never completely explores the link he saw between the Fair and Holmes. By not fully describing this link, the reader is left confused by the sometimes jarring transitions between the two subjects.

While these flaws are enough to deny The Devil in the White City the term "masterpiece", it possesses enough charms to make it a very entertaining read. Anyone who enjoys interesting subjects that are meticulously researched and effectively presented will enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Chicagoans, history buffs will get a kick out of this
Review: This is a great book that Chicagoans and history buffs will enjoy. It puts the Colombian Exposition of 1893 in its proper context and shows what great things people can achieve. (It also shows the depravity of an infamous serial killer, but I found this story line to be less interesting than the rest of the book).

Rating:
Summary: a good but
Review: When I read up on this book I thought it was going to be mostly about the killer Holmes. But it turned out to be mostly about the fair. A good book still, but they should have advertised differently.

Rating:
Summary: Moves Like A Freight Train
Review: When US history classes reach the 1890s, they address economic collapse, the labor movement and social reform. The 1893 Chicago World's Fair usually shows up as a footnote. As Erik Larson reveals in THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, it remains an incredible vortex of local, national and global themes of the era, as well as the launch into the 20th century. Larson chooses to limn the big picture by following two major personal stories, how Chicago architect Daniel Burnham forged the exposition against all odds, and how a serial killer in many ways more lethal than his contemporary, Jack The Ripper, systematically preyed on the public that came to the Fair. There are many fascinating subplots expertly woven in. In fact, Larson takes pains in an introductory note to stress that this is a work of non-fiction because it just seems too fantastic to be real at times. One quality that gives it the fictional feel is Larson's novelistic writing-it pulses with rhythm and vivid imagery. Another attribute is the detail he offers, one amplified by the 19th century penchant for documentation. Interestingly, the book bears perhaps 4 illustrations in all, but you feel as if you have seen a coffee table book of photographs by the time you finish because of Larson's descriptive powers. Air conditioning, search lights, huge structures, exterior electrical lighting, Ferris wheels, shredded wheat, belly dancers, live music piped in from hundreds of miles away--this the stuff of our 21st lives, but when taking the tour with Larson, you share the awe with the original fair-goers. Chicago, the Fair and Burnham in many ways epitomize both temporal and lasting American experience, while the killer represents an evil that transcends the culture and times he takes advantage of.

Rating:
Summary: Magic and Mystery
Review: My husband and I listened to the audiotape of this book on a recent driving trip and were so mesmerized we didn't want to get out of the car until it was over. This book combines magic and mystery. The magic unfolds as you learn the unbelievable story behind the creation of Chicago's 1893 Columbian Expo. The mystery looms in the shadows with the tale of the serial killer who preyed on the females lured by the Expo's presence. All true, but presented in the engaging, edgy style found more often in fiction. The book shows two stories of genius--one that produces a monument to man's desire for beauty, the other that pursues the depths of evil. Both aspire to greatness and recognition. It is amazing these stories are not better known. The Expo sounds like a modern Wonder of the World, and H.H. Holmes makes the notorious Jack-the-Ripper seem tame by comparison.

Rating:
Summary: A Gleaming Book with Gilded Moments
Review: As a student of history with a particular interest in the late nineteenth century (and a fascination with the Fair of 1893), this book appeared an immediate godsend. Erik Larson imbues his characters with a sense of reality and depth that is often missing in more "scholarly" approaches to both the Fair and the Holmes murders.

I thoroughly enjoyed most aspects of the book and would quickly recommend it to anyone interested in the time period, architectural history, or the story of America's first psychopathic serial killer. (Quite a range of interests to be covered in a single book!)

While I thoroughly enjoyed the book as an easy read, it has several shortcomings that should be pointed out. First off, despite the claims of some that this book is "wholy factual," it contains episodes imagined by Larson, who is not a trained historian. This is not meant to sound intellectually elitist, but is merely warning that those who want a "straight facts" telling of the story ought to take some of his chapters -- namely those dealing with Holmes -- with a grain of salt. Of course, it's unlikely that the majority of people reading this book want a pure factual analysis of the events of 1893; they want entertainment, like I did when I purchased the book. In that regard, the book is unlikely to disappoint.

There were two literary negatives I found in this book that should also be addressed.

One was Larson's aching need to insert strained metaphors throughout his prose. While he is clearly a rising master in terms of making the reader believe "s/he is there," he frequently employs tiresome metaphors that feel lifted from the pages of an overenthusiastic high school creative writing student. These cheap writing techniques give some sections of the book a "gilded" feel; then, this is a work about the Gilded Age. Nonetheless it is jarring, given his otherwise strong sense of dramatic tension and character-building.

The other is the rushed conclusion to the Holmes story. The final section of the book appears, at first glance, to be devoted entirely to Holmes, unlike the other sections of the book which switch between Holmes and Daniel Burnham, architect of the White City. The Holmes case deserves a book of its own, though Larson's approach is interesting and pretty unique. However, the investigation and trial are told in such a rushed, episodic format that a lot of the dramatic tension built up throughout the previous 300-odd pages of the book is lost quickly.

This is not to say that I didn't thoroughly enjoy the book. I did. I just feel that another round or two of editing would have made the book perfect.

This book is not a work of scholarly history, but given Larson's enjoyable sprinkling of factual anecdotes throughout, I wish more could have been done to describe the horrors that the "exotic" (read: non-white) performers endured in the Midway. He gives the audience a taste of some of the superior attitudes adopted by the white Americans and Europeans, but never touches upon the actual conditions at the Midway itself, despite lengthy discussions of other non-White City venues (such as Buffalo Bill's show).

Despite the lengthy negative comments above, I really did enjoy this book a lot. Go read it, with those reservations in mind!

Rating:
Summary: Good stories, bad writing.
Review: Both the Daniel Burnham and Henry Holmes stories are good ones to be told (yes, there are two -- it's not just about a serial killer, although it seems that's all anyone's interested in). The Chicago World's Fair and its construction is a great story, and definitely the better told one of this books two "main" plots.

However, that's about where the quality stops. I agree with "Ed" from Philadelphia's review in which he discusses Larson's very poor sense of how to create tension. Larson repeatedly uses line breaks to try and create really impactful sentences, writing a paragraph and then following it up with a single sentence for more impact. Unfortunately, he does this on EVERY PAGE, which tends to sort of ruin the intended effect. He amateurishly tries to create suspense (like with the Ferris issue), and this book really suffered from a lack of photographs -- even though it states there was an official photographer of the fair -- and, in short, poor writing. And yeah, belly dancers come up on every page for no reason, and there are a lot of narratorial "guesses" in which Larson suddenly inserts his opinion on what people "probably" thought in certain situations, a technique which seems rather inappropriate, especially coming from a journalist.

Add to all of this the fact that the book is terribly divided. For example, each chapter discusses a different "character" and his story; as a result, some of the shorter, less interesting stories (e.g., Prendergast's story) are scattered throughout the book, sometimes with chapters that are less than a page long. If you're really interested in these stories, pick up the book, but otherwise there's better books on both the Fair and on Henry Holmes.

Rating:
Summary: coulda been a lot better
Review: Is it a novel? No. Is it non-fiction? No. Is it a muddled, plodding mix somewhere in between? I think so.

I thought that it would make a great read. Unfortunately, it does not. So much is constantly repeated that it really is a drag reading this book. (If you read it, just count how many times belly-dancing is referred to in the middle of the book.) Larson tries to provoke suspense but I simply found it frustrating. Like his build up to the Ferris wheel. We read about an entrepeneur for pages who is in the steel industry and wants to best Eiffel's tower at the recent Paris exposition. We, of course, don't know that this guy is the inventor of the Ferris wheel, until Larson finally reveals his last name as the last word on the final page of a chapter. How suspenseful! He does this over and over and over and over.... I found it annoying and distracting. Just get to the point, the story will carry itself.

This book could have been shortened by half. Or better yet, he could have cut out some of the blather and included diagrams and pictures of the grounds. This book is all about architecure and use of grounds yet there are no pictures. Huh? The only diagrams are the ground plans laid out on the inner covers of the book.

I can tell Larson loved this material as it is prodigiously researched but personal love is not enough to transcribe it into a compelling story. It was an interesting place from which to tell a story but it just wasn't carried off that well.

Rating:
Summary: Great history, engrossing architecture, and true crime, too
Review: This was one of the best reads I've had in some time. I enjoy true crime and history that is not too dryly written a great deal. Not only does this book accomplish both of these things, it tells such an engrossing story that I sometimes had to remind myself that it wasn't fiction.

Larson's prose is flawless; he paints vivid pictures and captures the emotion and humanity of his characters well. His attention to detail--that the fair had an impact on what kind of electrical current we use, the breakfast cereal that we eat, the buildings that we live in, the landscapes we enjoy--was one of the things that I enjoyed a great deal.

I disagree with the reviewer who said that he told neither story well. Unlike Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, Larson is working with historical accounts of this Mudgett's killings, and so has limited information. I think he does a great job in filling in what blanks there might be, both in Mudgett's story and that of the inner workings of the architects, engineers, and landscapers who worked on the fair.

This was extremely interesting. I was immersed from the minute I picked it up, and I could not wait until bedtime each night when I'd have more time to read it.