I read this book for the Diversity in All Forms! Goodreads Book Club :) This was the selected book for the theme/topic of True Crime.
Here is a link to the discussion page:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I enjoyed the book, especially learning about the background of Chicago. I also really enjoyed the ending where it stated that he could be the Devil because all these terrible things happened to the people that took him to trail and convicted him.

At first I was scared to read this because I thought it might be gory, but it definitely wasn't.

n  Review originally published July 2016n

One of my latest reads is not a new book; in fact, it was originally published October, 2002. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is a true account of the making of the World’s Fair in Chicago, 1893.

This book blends two stories that run parallel to one another. First, the planning and preparation for Chicago’s world fair featuring architect Daniel H. Burnham. The reader will marvel at the daunting yet fascinating task of putting an event like this together and the time the work that it took to secure the bid for such a fair. You will quickly appreciate the enormous egos and political influences that are at play with events such as this.

I was interested to learn that one of the purposes of a world’s fair is to introduce the public to the newest technologies at the time. Some of the things introduced at various world fairs were the Colt revolver, calculating machine, telephone, controlled flight, ice cream cone, gas powered autos, computer technology, outdoor lighting, green building techniques, just to name a few.

With large gatherings of people from all over the world, of course there is bound to be mayhem and murder, so in comes the sinister Dr. H.H. Holmes, whose real name was Herman Webster Mudgett. Holmes was a con artist and serial killer who set up his life in Chicago at the same time architect Burnham begins his history-making build of the Chicago world’s fair.

It is believed Holmes was the first documented American serial killer. His calculated murder routine will chill you and remind you that this sort of mayhem has been around for centuries. I would have enjoyed the book even without the true facts of the serial murderer, but I will admit that I was fascinated by those accounts.

If you’ve never read any history on the 1893 world’s fair in Chicago, this book is a great place to start; it’s well written and from the words on the page you get a real visual of the happenings.

Typically, a world fair runs every five years and will situate in a city throughout the world that wins the bid. The 2020 world’s fair was to be held in Dubai, however due to Covid-19, it was postponed to 2021.

-Suzie

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The Devil in the White City is a book about the White City — the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and a book about a devil — a psychopathic serial killer.

I enjoyed both books here, but wasn't pleased with the author's decision to try to integrate them into one book.

If they had been separate, they each would have probably earned four stars — perhaps five. The White City half certainly dealt with a fascinating cast of characters, architecture was skyrocketing in importance, and Chicago was a hotbed of architectural innovation. And since architects invariably deal with wealth, all the contradictions and surprises of the Gilded Age are brought to the fore.

And perhaps the devil half contained enough meat to reach the topmost tier of true-crime nonfiction, just under Capote's unsurpassable In Cold Blood. The social changes seen by the poor — the gilded age's dark lining, as it were — were just as riveting as the boardroom side of the story.

That young women were responding to somewhat loosening social roles is critical to the devil side of the story, but what is driving this is elided. That Chicago's police force is inadequate to the task of even noticing that startling numbers of people are simply going missing — why? We come to understand that it wasn't simple incompetence, but yet another manifestation with how the world was changing. Geyer, the investigator who brought down the devil, deserved much more attention as an amalgam of the fictional Sherlock Holmes and a harbinger of how the FBI would someday work. Larson could have even tossed in a little twist to tied this into the current CSI-inspired fascination with forensics.

By twining these two stories together, the author lost much and gained little. For example, since this wasn't strictly a true-crime story, he couldn't trace developments in crime detection forward over the decades; and because it wasn't strictly an architects' story, he couldn't follow up on his teasers regarding how the World's Fair changed American's conceptions of urban space.

Even combined, this book needed a much heavier dose of sociology: yes, both stories with societal change, and both take place in Chicago — but what does this mean? Why at this time, and at this place?

The Devil in the White City is a worthwhile book, but not nearly as interesting as the material warrants.

 

A wonderful book, which I had missed for any years since I mistakenly thought it was some kind of postmodern novel, rather than a history with some fictive touches. In fact, author Larson acknowledges Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD as a stylistic influence in setting mood and relating event. DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY smashes two opposing forces together: the first or "white" part of the book is made up of the planners and builders, architects and designers (most notably Frederick Law Olmstead and Daniel Burnham) who lobbied Congress to get the first American world's fair built in Chicago in 1893, the World's Columbian Exposition, and to make it as outstanding in its way as the Paris exposition had just a few years later (and resulted in the Eiffel Tower). Although largely forgotten and insufficiently celebrated, this was not only the USA's first world's fair but also the vehicle that gave us Cracker Jack, Shredded Wheat, "exotic" (i.e., Mideastern) dancers and the Ferris Wheel.

The second or "black" part is the non-temporary, aspiring, pollluted, corrupt, highly productive remainder of Chicago. The leader of the "black" forces in this book are a man named Holmes under whose tutlelage impressionable young women and hastily married widows took up with him and then disappeared, along with numerous children. Holmes was not an official part of the Columbian Exposition planning mechanism, but he and his minions interwove with the fair enough in fact that Larson does not have to resort to contrivance or "faction" to highlight this interweaving. Then there's a very minor figure in the book, a Mr. Prendergast, who has managed to convince himself that he deserves more than he has earned: specifically, an important post with the City of Chicago. His ludicrous mindset serves as comic relief thoughout this book, until the evil he perpetuates cannot be ignored.

DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY brings forth a kneejerk term in me: it is one of the most "compulsively readable" books I've read, and even the minutiae of fair planning and settling squabbles among a score of architects from Chicago and elsewhere reads well. Along the way the many characters, medium-sized and minor, who populate this book and plan for the Exposition or visit it are all anyone could ask for in local color, with enough plot motivation to carry a fictional novel or two, and all in Larson's inimitably crafted prose. The only thing I didn't really care for about the book was that Larson apparently took IN COLD BLOOD, which contained no photographs or other artwork until a deluxe edition came out last year, rather too literally as to pictorial documentation. Unusual for a history set in the 1890s, DEVIL is devoid of photos except for a few formal, posed photographs to head each chapter, and a rather watery overview map of the fairgrounds.

Those who seek a visual correlative for the show can find it in LOST CHICAGO, a virtual catalog of buildings that no longer exist.

Historical Fictionistas group read December 2015!

Larson deserves five stars for research ALONE. Gah. Coupled with his own skill at fleshing everything out so that it reads like a thriller novel is bonus, because this book was so easy to fall into. I'll admit that in the beginning Holmes' story interested me more than the 1893 World's Fair, but by the end I was equally wrapped up in both sagas and the way they intertwined with each other. There is SO MUCH detail in this book that it's incredible to conceive of it being nonfiction -- surely something had to be made up, right? In his author's note at the end of the book, Larson explains the way he built two of the murder scenes in the book, much in the way a prosecutor would in a trial -- using the most plausible explanations he could possibly find. I also love that he does his research purely through books and articles, and stays away from the internet; in this day and age, there's something to be said for keeping things old-school and still putting together such an all-encompassing book as this.

I wound up listening to the audiobook because my sister has absconded with my paperback copy, but I can't fret too much; Scott Brick does a fantastic job reading and actually makes me think that, the next Larson book I read, I might well listen along as I read.

This is on the book hangover shelf because I'm sitting here and I seriously don't know what to do with myself. I'm salivating for more story but there's no more left, the story's over and the book's done. Sad kitty.

This was a surprise for me, not really my genre but for bookclub I will read anything! So that being stated, I really loved reading this book. I learned so many tidbits about our architectural history and every so often you found yourself thinking, well I never knew that. Would recommend highly.

Спомняте ли си, че Алеко заминал за Америка, за да посети едно едно изложение? (За съжаление, Ниагара е просто спирка по пътя - важна, но все пак спирка - през XIX век разстоянията все още са проблем.) Книгата разказва тъкмо за него - Колумбовото изложение от 1893 г., отговорът на Съединените щати на Парижкото изложение от 1889 г. (да, същото онова, за което издигнали Айфеловата кула), щото виждате ли почувствали се великите американци малки и незначителни. И тъй като знаем много за Алеко и мнението му и малко за самото събитие, мащаба и контекста му, си струва да се хвърли един поглед на "Дяволът в белия град", пък макар и само за забавление.

Ohhhh, this book is creeeeeepy and all-true!!! Being from Chicago I was in an awful thrall the entire time. The only thing that was missing for me would have been some kind of map to show where exactly the Fair was located, and all the other buildings he talks about... I think the fair was probably located roughly on what the Museum Campus is now, but I still would like to see a map.

And the people! Burnham and Root and Atwood... and Carter Henry Harrison! It says his mansion was on Ashland, I'm wondering exactly where. And Mudgett... I wonder where all of his buildings were... it sends chills up my spine just to think about it. I wonder if anyone has put together a tourist's map based on this book?

O.K., beyond my personal reasons for being fascinated, the writing is excellent, and really well documented. And the charming thing is that he documented everything in the back of the book in a really simple way, so if you were so inclined you would not have to be a big fancy scholar to follow his paper trail and see all of this stuff for yourself. Power to the people!

And the writing style is accessible and the voice is also very appropriate... he kind of veers between eulogist and undertaker. And the few times that he takes liberties and describes things that no one could ever really possibly have documented, he does so in a way that is careful and responsible. And I think for him not to have taken the liberties would have been a mistake... I think everyone who read the book would have thought there was something missing.

And what's ultimately really rewarding about this book is that the author outlines all the ways in which the influences of Fair of 1893 reverberated in American culture (and the world) for years afterward. Our aesthetic sensibility as a nation was permanently changed. And our technological sensibility. And to think that all of this was planned so fast, it was like a supernova in the middle of this underdeveloped backwater (oh, I said it. I live here now, and sometimes I still think of Chicago that way.). And that with all that progress comes this darkness, too, there's this underside to everything.

And with that lovely thought, I'm going to try and find the Wooded Island. Ciao!

Larson is a splendid writer particularly when it comes to conjuring up a particular period and it's zietgist. He does this particularly well with regards to great exhibition in Chicago in 1893. In many ways I wish he had concentrated on the fair because there is more then enough in that story to fill a book. Of course the grisly tale of the murderer Holmes and his unspeakable torture castle is a contrast to the clean white castles created for the fair. But unfortunately there are no new sources about Holmes and his crimes for Larson to find. There is nothing even new in what he can tell about Holmes that hasn't been told countless times in various true crime books. For me the book was unsatisfying because it emphasises Holmes but he never really comes to life, there are not any extant decent images of 'murder castle/hotel'. So we are treated to more and more about the fair and the struggle to create it. It is immensely readable but doesn't really leave any substantial impression.

It is not a bad book, it is very readable and enjoyable, but vastly over praised.

“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood."
― Daniel H. Burnham



“His weakness was his belief that evil had boundaries.”
― Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City

A nice piece of narrative nonfiction that weaves together the story of the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago World's Fair of 1893) with the story of the serial killer Dr. H. H. Holmes.

White with black.
Achievement with horror.
Knowledge with ignorance.
Light with darkness.
Life with death.

This is kinda a brilliant construct: an alternating prose current of crazy and rational, evil and beautiful. I'm not sure if I could handle 400 pages of either subject without the other. The architecture piece was amazing, but didn't drive the narrative very hard. The characters, the architects, the dreamers, etc., were impressive. Daniel Hudson Burnham, Frederick Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, George Ferris were all compelling because of their drive, their ego, their absolute resolution and certainty of success. They capture that Gilded Age ego and excess perfectly.



Conversely, the story of Dr. Holmes was at times almost too sick and twisted. Periodically, I would need a pause. I needed to leave the Holmes' dark Murder Castle to the White City for breath.

The limit of this book is the same limits that hit Capote's In Cold Blood and Mailer's The Executioner's Song. How do you exactly recreate a murder? How do you understand the victim? How do you understand the murderer? Especially when they either leave nothing behind or you can't trust what they've written. These narrative fictionalizations are probably necessary given the limits of information we have. But still, they are fictions. We can never really know what those women thought as they were trapped in the vault or what Dr. Holmes thought as he waited for someone to die in a trunk or vault. Larson admits this limit, but it ends up being a necessary facade, and one I can deal with.

Again, it isn't a perfect book. A bit too pop and a bit too loose with the Holmes facts. When dancing into that zone of fictionalized history he gets close to Capote and Mailer, but falls a bit short of the narrative masters of of murder.

Always one to enjoy a little true crime, I had this book highly recommended to me by a very close friend. Erik Larson explores not only the electric sentiment surrounding the World’s Fair in Chicago, but also a sinister character hiding in the shadows, piling up a number of bodies while no one took much notice. The year is 1890 and Chicago is vying to win the right to host the World’s Fair. Set to take place in 1893, the fair has been promised to the United States, allowing a proper quadricentennial celebration of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World. After a gruelling vote by Congress, Chicago won the bid and preparations began. Headed by Daniel H. Burnham, the ‘World’s Columbian Exposition’ started its planning stages, seeking the best land, the greatest buildings, and the most elaborate set-up possible to impress the world. With a limited timetable, everything had to move at lightning speed, something that Burnham would soon realise turned out to be a snail’s pace. In the background, one Herman W. Mudgett, who goes by H. H. Holmes, arrived in the area and settled in Chicago. Professing a medical background, Holmes sought to invest in local businesses and lay down some roots. His innovative ideas caught the attention of many, which was paired with his magnetic personality. However, deep within him lurked a man who was infused with the devil’s own magic, or so he believed. Larson discusses early in the book about how Holmes laid the groundwork for numerous cases of insurance fraud, having people obtain life insurance policies and name him (sometimes using more pseudonyms) as the sole beneficiary. Holmes was also known to use his eyes of the deepest blue to lock onto a woman and decide how he might have her as his own. Larson offers up a wonderful narrative as to how Holmes subtlety lured a certain young woman away from her husband, all while having the man invest deeper into a business venture. Once the woman had left her husband, he courted her and promised all the riches he could offer. He let nothing stand in his way, even a pregnancy that he sought to abort, removing all hurdles to his plans. Holmes brought the woman to his suite on Christmas Eve and killed her, though never allowed a single drop of blood to flow from her, thereby hiding much of the forensic evidence. A killer was born, at least in Chicago, though through some fast talking, Holmes convinced everyone that the victim had left to visit family, while selling her body to a local medical school once it had been disarticulated.

With the fair set to open before too long, Burnham had yet to find his piece de resistance; something that would rival the Eiffel Tower in Paris from the fair not five years before. After a number of options proved too underwhelming and M. Eiffel’s attempt to create something new seemed to be a slap in the face, Burnham accepted an idea by a Mr. Ferris to create a massive wheel that would allow fair-goers to see the grounds and much of Chicago from a contained pod. With all the other preparations, Burnham left Ferris to create his masterpiece, hoping that it would be ready for the May 1,1893 opening. He set about making sure everything was running smoothly, while also being feted in the most extravagant ways (Larson includes the menus, which had my mouth watering). By the time the World’s Columbian Exposition opened, the Ferris Wheel was well behind schedule and fair-goers could only gawk at it, hoping that it might be up and running before too long. Burnham seethed in the background, as gate admissions proved to be troubling and the bankers were ready to call in their debts. Meanwhile, Holmes found a new woman to woo, choosing to present himself with a pseudonym so that no one would get suspicious. His plans grew as he had her help him prepare his hotel for the fair-goers, but would wait for things to really kick off before disappearing with more bodies attributable to his sinister work. Holmes surely had a taste for death, though his was far less gruesome than Jack the Ripper, the latest serial killer whose name had been splashed all across the tabloids only a few years before.

In the culminating section of the book, Erik Larson offers the reader a glimpse not only into the wonders that the fair brought, but the intensity of Holmes and his killing spree. While the world was introduced to Juicy Fruit chewing gum, they were oblivious to the missing women who fell at the hands of a folded cloth of chloroform. Aunt Jemima instant pancake mix might have wooed households (more so than the new cereal, Shredded Wheat), Cracker Jacks offered up a new and sweet popcorn-based snack, and new technologies for communication and inter-personal socialisation. All the while, H. H. Holmes plotted horrible ways by which he could kill and feed his ever-growing need for power. In an interesting parallel, while the end of the exposition came, Holmes was also seeking to pack up and depart Chicago. Larson discusses some of the macabre events that saw the end of the exposition look blacker than Chicago had hoped. Holmes’ departure brought him to the attention of the authorities and a massive insurance fraud opened the door to some questions about the whereabouts of some who had gone missing. Larson shows how quickly things went from calm to chaotic and what led authorities to capture a serial killer no one even knew existed. A piece that will surely stay with me for years to come, as I make sure to find more books by Erik Larson to feed my appetite for this sort of writing. Recommended to those who love a chilling piece of true crime, as well as the reader whose love of history and late 19th century America remains high.

Erik Larson offers readers a sensational piece of true crime, though it is so much more. His subtle telling of the murders committed by H. H. Holmes proves to add to the eerie nature of the entire experience, as he layers the narrative with the development and launching of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Featuring so much detail in the slow and methodical planning of the event, Larson pulls the reader into the middle of it all, as though they were there with Daniel H. Burnham through trial and tribulation. Equally as stunning is the means by which Larson told of the plotting Holmes undertook for each of his victims, making sure to fit himself into the community and win over the hearts of neighbours before causing the odd (and intricate) disappearance. Larson could not have added more detail, as it truly feels to the reader as though they are right there, down to the ‘large ice fangs that covered the trains one January night as the engines travelled along the tracks’. It is this depiction that turns this from a book of true crime to one in which the reader can almost sense what is lurking in the shadows. Some may wish to bolt their doors, others might not want to go out after dark, and still others may be left wondering about their neighbours and acquaintances, such is the depth to which Larson makes the reader feel a part of the action. The book is broken into four parts, with vignettes that serve as chapters. Larson balances the narrative between the exposition and Holmes’ activities advancing both as the timeline requires. This is surely one of those books that will keep the reader wondering what to expect, especially those who are not familiar with the murders. With so much to see and do throughout the book, the reader is sure to get lost amongst all the action and the numerous characters. Erik Larson does his best to keep it straight and provides the reader with the ride of their life... and I am not even referring to the Ferris Wheel.

Kudos, Mr. Larson, for a sensational depiction of a period of time meant to be celebratory, with a definite pall of darkness clouding over it. I will be checking out more of your work to see what else I might learn.

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This was my first time reading a book by author Erik Larson, so I didn't know what to expect.
He told two stories. One was a historical narrative from the perspective of Daniel H. Burnham who was the Director of Works and had the daunting challenge of constructing the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in a little over two years time.
The other story was a true crime narrative about Herman W. Mudgett who was better known by one of his many aliases, H. H. Holmes. Holmes was an unknown psychopathic serial killer who owned a pharmacy and hotel near the fair site.
Larson's superb writing skills intertwined these two stories to create a masterful portrayal of the events in that time. My only disappointment was the lack of pictures that would have even better enhanced my reading pleasure.