Rating: 
Summary: waste of two great subjects
Review: I've sat through architecture lectures that were better prepared and more riveting than this dull recitation of facts. The characters never came alive, and the tenuous connection between the World's Fair and the serial killer were not enough to hold my interest. The total lack of drama makes the enjoyable detail of the Fair almost too hard to find. Don't kid yourself, there are better murder mysteries out there, and the only reason this book shot to the best seller list is the lure of Continuing Education Credits for the country's 75,000 architects.
Rating: 
Summary: Tells a great story and captures an age
Review: My favorite histories often revolve around an interesting but undertold story. Devil in the White City actually tells not one, but two interesting, undertold stories that coincided with one another toward the end of the 19th century in Chicago. The first is the highly disturbing story of a serial killer and the second is the story of the planning and execution of the 1896 World Fair. The stories are told in alternating chapters of the book. Surprisingly, the whole thing works very nicely.
Larson's writing is very detailed, but reads almost like fiction. Even better, Larson really captures the sense of unlimited possibilities that was so pervasive around the turn of the century. The 1896 World Fair had a very tough act to follow after the Paris Fair of 1892 that featured a brand-new structure called the Eiffel Tower. The Chicago exposition got the job done and introduced so many things we take for granted today that its story keeps you turning pages nearly as quickly as the tale of murder and deceipt with which it is interspersed.
Give this one a read.
Rating:
Summary: Buy one book and get the second free!
Review: Ok- I know that is a cheesy title for a review, but it is completely true! Larson has morphed together two short pieces of history into one book. We have the story of the great Architect, Burhnam and his amazing (and almost unbelievable) struggle in organizing the 1893 Chicago Worlds's fair. The second story revloves around the Holmes, a serial killer, who happened to live in Chicago at the time of the exposition. The truth be known - these two events are almost completely unrelated. The exposition did not "Cause" Holmes to murder, nor did Holmes' murders "cause" the Fair. The blend of these two stories causes the work to be a little uneven. Three pages may seperate the inner-thinkings of a pyschopath from a discussion on theories in landscape architecture. With that- I will say that Larson's portrayal is very entertaining. In fact, I would compare it Caleb Carr's historical fiction (The Alienist), which is set (almost) during the same period... but in New York. Definitely worth the time to read... even if it does read as two different books!
Rating: 
Summary: way too much detail.....
Review: our book club chose this - at least a few of the gals said they just couldn't get through it- and I made it to page 200 and just couldn't wait any longer for it to really hold my interest. The parts about Holmes were intriguing - sad that in those days there was no technology/means of tracking vanished people. Sorry, the general concensus of our group was a thumbs down.
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: so interestingly written, you think it must be fiction!
Review: What an interesting book! I am a Chicago native but didn't know much about the 1893 World's Fair until picking up this book. Erik Larson does a really good job of juxtaposing two seemingly unrelated stories together into a fascinating narrative. You read about the chief architect of the fair, Daniel Burnham, who had to oversee the construction of the fair's many large buildings and grounds in under two years, and about Dr. H.H. Holmes, a man who moves to Chicago and sets up a hotel to lure female victims to their death.
I originally chose this book because I wanted to learn more about Chicago history and its 1893 World Fair, but was pleasantly surprised to find myself drawn in by the story of H.H. Holmes. The story is so engaging that it's almost hard to believe it's all true! This book gave me a good understanding of an important time in history and entertained me too.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Story - Well Written
Review: When I discovered my grandfather's old turn-of-the century photo album, I saw some pictures of enormous white buildings, which seemed so fantastical I thought they were part of a miniature or model. Later, I realized they were pictures of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair! I had to learn more about it and Amazon.com recommended "The Devil in the White City."
After reading a library copy, I knew I had to buy the book... which I did!
If all history instructors would teach as Larson writes, there would be legion more history students! And, knowing that my grandfather, great grandmother & great grandfather had been there, made the story more compelling.
Warning: It's rather macabre re: the serial murderer. But, if you like CSI - you'll love this! If not, concentrate on the building of the Fair & its social change ramifications. Either way, it's a Great read and a keeper!
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