It's been a while since I've done a book review and this one has been on my list to do for months. I've actually read The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson twice (once in 2003 based on the recommendation of Bookmarks magazine and again in 2007 for my Book Group). I first "met" Erik Larson in April of 2000 when I read Isaac's Storm which was recommended by my friend Paula. We had both lived in Miami and braved Hurricane Andrew back in 1992 and were fascinated with the history, science and anecdotal stories of past hurricanes. Isaac's Storm took you right into the path of the hurricane that was bearing down on Galveston, TX and still stands today as the United States' greatest natural disaster, killing over 6,000 people. It details the struggle of Isaac Cline to understand the meteorological events he was tracking with the new weather-analysis technology, combining the story of one man in the context of the detailed description of the terrifying storm that pounded an unsuspecting Galveston.
Larson uses this same formula in The Devil in the White City, with an interesting twist. In the late 1800's, Chicago, the "also-ran" of American cities...always struggling in the shadow of New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, decided to throw its hat in the ring to host the 1893 World's Fair. Coming on the heels of the World's Fair in Paris in 1889 where the French put up their awe-inspiring, but "temporary", Eiffel tower, Chicago would have to prove its worth and make sure that its Fair broke the records and stunned the world like that of Paris just a few years before. In and of itself, the story of the men and women involved in creating the White City of the Chicago World's Fair would be compelling. But it seems that at the same time, when people were coming from all over the world to see the fair, America's first serial killer was at work, preying on young women coming to Chicago for work opportunities and the chance to escape the constraints of their small-town shackles.
As in Isaac's Storm, Larson's account of the Chicago World's Fair is impeccably researched but reads like fiction. The Devil in the White City draws the reader in with the selflessness of the Fair planners, the foibles of some of the dislay designers and the charm of a good-looking, well turned-out serial killer, not to mention the incredible impact the Fair had on the U.S. and the world.
As you are mesmerized by the story, you will learn of visiting Royalty, a connection to the Titanic disaster, the brainchild of a certain George Ferris and even the origin of the name "Pabst Blue Ribbon". For people like me who love to learn about history...but in a context that makes it personal...The Devil in the White City definitely earns my 5 stars!
***I am still playing around with the links and coding for my BookSense affliliation. Please feel free to give me feedback and bear with me while I figure it all out!***
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