Rating: 
Summary: A fitting tribute to a grand undertaking.
Review: As a native Chicagoan, I'm embarrassed to say that before reading Devil in the White City, I knew relatively little about either the city's 19th century history or the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Fortunately, Larson's informative narrative helped immeasurably in correcting those deficiencies.
Most of Devil in the White City is devoted to the impetus behind the 1893 World's Fair and the tremendous amount of work that went into the planning, construction and administration of the Fair. The central character in this portion of the book is the primary architect of the Fair, Daniel Burnham. Larson provides an excellent overview of Chicago society at the time and the challenges faced by architects of the age as they struggled to erect some of the very first skyscrapers. Anyone who enjoyed the depictions of 19th century life contained in Caleb Carr's Alienist novels or Matthew Pearl's The Dante Club should appreciate this aspect of Devil in the White City. A much smaller portion of the book deals with the cunning Dr. H.H. Holmes, a mass murderer who exploited the draw of the nearby Fair for his own nefarious amusement.
While an examination of just the World's Fair itself probably would have made for an entertaining read, Larson's decision to chronicle the contemporaneous exploits of the infamous Dr. Holmes worked for me. Just as the brilliance of the Fair's White City was offered by its creators as a tantalizing alternative to the dreary, soot-stained reality of Chicago and 19th century life, Larson's juxtaposition of the noble, progressive potential of mankind as exemplified by the Fair with the darker, baser instincts of Holmes proved both riveting and illuminating.
Ultimately, Larson's tale is imultaneously uplifting and bittersweet. Even as one marvels at how Burnham and his fellow directors were able to create such majesty in such a short period of time and against such seemingly insurmountable obstacles, it's sad to think that so little remains of the White City and its environs. Fortunately, we have Larson's engaging tribute to transport us back in time to the Fair and provide us with a glimpse of what was truly a marvelous undertaking.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic - turn of the century Chicago
Review: As with Isaac's Storm, I was unable to put this book down. This is how history should be - without the boring textbook. This is the meat of history and it reads like fiction (of which I believe, someone else has remarked)- but it is true. The book gets 5 stars because my free time has turned into reading time.
Totally enthralling, this is the story of Chicago at the turn of the century - its squallor, and its changing landscape and the one man, it seems, who forged its inception into modern day history. I love Larson's research into characters and their impact on the situations. For me, the trials and tribulations of building the Columbian Exposition were more interesting than the sidebar of the serial murders. One serial murderers story is not so different from another's - really - other than name of the killer perhaps. The psychotic illness is just what it is. For those digging the serial murder stuff, read The Alienist which is superb historical fiction. I would also suggest Isaac's Storm, another superb Larson tale about the Galvaston Hurricane. Larson epitomizes great historical writing and proves that truth can be bigger than fiction, if presented well.
Rating:
Summary: Big book---worth the effort
Review: Big books seem to be back in style. It is hard to choose an all time monster but H.H. Holmes(Mudgett) surely rates right up there. This book was so unique because it was like reading two books at the same time.The author balanced the shocking behavior of the calculating murderer Holmes with some of the worlds greatest builders.A life long city dweller or just one who visits a big city will be astonished to learn just what went into Chicago's Columbian Exposition and certainly will never look at high rise buildings,Landscapes,and public parks again without thinking about this book.Before this book the likes of Burnham,Root,Olmstead and other Architect's and builders were just names of streets to most of us. Not any more.Thanks to a great deal of research by the Author.This book has something for everyone and is both shocking and delightful.Jack The Ripper,Richard Speck,John Wayne Gacy,Ted Bundy all shocked and sickened us but H.H.Holmes was clearly a monster for the ages. Would also highly recommend another great book I came across called THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD-entertaining, frightening, laugh-out-loud funny, and well written.
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: Pleasantly Surprised!
Review: I actually started reading this book because it was mentioned everywhere. The topic didn't sound terribly interesting at first, but I was immediately hooked! I learned some amazing things about notable figures and events that I never knew were missing from my life! The juxtaposition of the two stories was fascinating. The creepiness of the sociopath, Holmes, was tempered by the flashes into the logistics and stories of the fair. The two really balanced each other out and made for a very interesting and memorable read. Definitely check it out!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book-The Devil's in the Details
Review: I first heard about this book when Erik Larson was interviewed on talkradio in the Bay Area awhile back. My parents are from Chicago,and having visited there several times, I've always wanted to find out more about the "cultural" history, and this book does it! I love architecture, history and a serial killer doesn't hurt for a storyline. Having read the review by a reader that some of the inclusions of famous people such as Lizzie Borden could be inaccurate, it did make me wonder if that was an aberration,not a pattern. Overall, I loved the book, but another reviewer pointed out validly, that there could have been more pictures, so that's probably my only major criticism. I would definitely recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: Chock full of history
Review: I wasn't seeking this book out to read. I was in N.C. visiting a friend when I saw it in his place. He briefly told me what the book was about, so I read the opening pages. And then more, and then more. Eventually I asked if I could take it home and finish it. Before this book I never knew how big that fair was. How many odds were against the architects, that the Ferris wheel was born there and it was HUGE. I didn't know that on one day over 700,000 people attended the fair and A.C. electricity was born there. I didn't know who H.H. Holmes was, nor what he did. And I never knew his body lies 15 minutes from my house.
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: 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.
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