My first description of Erik Larson's Devil in the White City is: Completely Fantastic! I could go on with superlatives ad nauseam, but let me just say that he has written a piece of history with story telling of the most compelling fiction...except it is so bizarre, you couldn't make this stuff up...it would not be believable.
And Devil in the White City is true. It describes the World's Fair in Chicago in 1892-1893...the processes that led up to Chicago getting the fair, building this amazing event, and how it changed many things in America. It concurrently tells the story of a man who used the hustle and bustle of Chicago, and the fair to further his serial killing...and how he almost got away with it.
The fair itself was considered as history making to the people of America in its time, as the Civil War. What is amazing is that so few people today know so little about it. Reading this book, you realize how many products and inventions came out of this exposition...from things like Cracker Jacks and Shredded Wheat, to the Ferris Wheel and the incandescent bulb and alternating current used to light the night. The Pledge of Allegiance came out of this event.
And maybe more than that...city architecture was forever changed by the white city that was created by the America's leading architects. Never before had it been really thought that citys could be clean and beautiful and safe...but from then on, citys or at least parts of them would try to have some open public beautiful places.
Larson's book is amazing in that the story of the fair is equally, if not more, compelling the the horrific story of Dr. Holmes, the serial killer who defined the term psychopath. His method of seducing young women and then killing them is horrifying, and more so in that he was almost not caught, and was not in jail for murder, but for insurance fraud, when it was first suspected that he might be involved in much more serious crimes.
Larson weaves these stories together in a fantastic narrative that left me riveted, wanting to skip work to keep reading. That this was deeply researched is evident, but it never feels scholarly or burdensome. He uses his quotes deftly, always forwarding the plot and the action.
Devil in the White City is history, richly detailed and wonderfully written. It reminds us that events sometimes forgotten are significant nonetheless and offers a great and generous slice of life in Chicago in the 1890's. It is a tour de force and highly recommended.
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