Book Review: Devil in the White City by Eric Larson

My wife, a brilliant librarian, recommended Devil in the White City by Eric Larson to me a long time ago but I’d managed to delay reading it until just recently. She said it was fascinating and left her thinking something to the effect of “This is so interesting, how could I not have already known about these things.” She was more eloquent than that and I eventually felt the same way about the book.

It really is fascinating. Essentially, it’s the (mostly) true tale of the building of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (aka The Chicago World’s Fair) and how that history intersect with theat of the serial killer, H.H. Holmes. I say it’s only “mostly” true because there are some details (the thoughts and motivations of some characters, for instance) which are not always reliably documented. To that end, Larson bases some of the narrative on what science now knows about psychology and other, more recent, serial killers. To his credit, Larson makes it clear where he had to make assumptions/speculations. The story was thoroughly researched and the notes section of the book is as copious as anything I’ve read in many, many years. This documentation is astounding in itself.

As for the story, the incredible feats involved in just getting the World’s Fair together are awe inspiring. The horrific acts committed by Holmes are chilling. Larson captures both the best and the worst of man and his accomplishments. Likewise, 1893 Chicago is both magical and squalid--kind of made me want but to visit (but not live there).

After this, several other Larson books have been added to my "To Read" list.