Erik Larson
“The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America”
Vintage Publishing
447 pages
Check it out on Amazon.com
I’ve never been to Chicago, but it seems to be intoxicating for anyone familiar with it. My friends endlessly praise the city for its public transportation system, architecture, food and culture, all without the grittiness and rudeness of New York. Erik Larson’s “The Devil in the White City” plays into Chicago’s mystique, capturing the history and energy that Chicago has had for centuries.
Larson’s book is an account of two Chicago stories in the 1890s: the creation of the 1893 World’s Fair, and the calculated murders of women by serial killer Dr. Henry Howard Holmes. For the author to combine the two stories was a good idea, because I don’t think either story could’ve sustained interest on its own. When one story falters in intrigue, the other pulls through. One of magic and wonder, the other macabre and evil.
“The Devil in the White City” is in the “popular history” genre of literature; that is, it looks like a novel and reads like a novel, but it’s historically accurate. Some reviewers have criticized the book’s writing style, suggesting that its short chapters and cliffhangers make for weak writing. I disagree, and here’s why: Most people would rather swallow nails than read a history book, so the short chapters and cliffhangers push the reader to continue reading. In my opinion, the most talented writers are those that take stories from history, which are usually more boring than C-SPAN, and portray them in an accessible way. “The Devil in the White City” could’ve been a dull read of some fair that happened a long time ago in some city I’ve never been to. Instead, it’s fairly entertaining and informative.
The stronger story is of the World’s Fair since it was a magical event on an epic scale. It featured exotic birds from around the world, recreations of African villages, ethereal illumination by a new invention called “electricity,” a midway featuring Buffalo Bill and belly dancers among others, an 8-story Ferris Wheel, Thomas Edison’s moving pictures, ice skating and a bobsled ride, canals populated by gliding electric boats, buildings so large they inspired awe in the Fair’s millions and millions of visitors–and to imagine that all this arose from nothing in only two years! Meanwhile, all throughout the Fair’s run, its operators faced financial troubles, political in-fighting, tumultuous Illinois weather, disease and labor strikes. Where the “The Devil in the White City” is most interesting is in the challenges architect Daniel Burnham and designer Frederick Law Olmsted faced in planning and building a Fair meant to be history’s greatest.
Dr. Holmes’ story also kept my attention, but it was a bit tedious in parts. For instance, after the Fair’s marvelous closing, I was subjected to 40 pages of a detective going city to city, hotel to hotel, asking person to person whether they knew anything about Holmes or the whereabouts of his victims. If Larson had edited down Holmes’ story to avoid repetition, it wouldn’t have been as somniferous.
Larson’s skills at imagery are excellent here. Like I said, I’ve never been to Chicago and I’ve never been to the 1890s, but in reading “The Devil in the White City” I felt as if I had. I could almost see the crowded alleyways of Chicago, smell the train smoke and slaughterhouses.
A miasma of cinder-flecked smoke blackened its streets and at times reduced visibility to the distance of a single block, especially in winter, when coal furnaces were in full roar. The ceaseless passage of trains, grip-cars, trolleys, carriages–surreys, landaus, victorias, broughams, phaetons, and hearses, all with iron-clad wheels that struck the pavement like rolling hammers–produced a constant thunder that did not recede until after midnight and made the open-window nights of summer unbearable. In poor neighborhoods garbage mounded in alleys and overflowed giant trash boxes that became banquet halls for rats and bluebottle flies. Billions of flies. The corpses of dogs, cats, and horses often remained where they fell. In January they froze into disheartening poses; in August they ballooned and ruptured.
And the most rewarding parts of “The Devil in the White City” are its nuggets of trivia, like that Cracker Jack made its debut at the Fair, that Disneyland was heavily inspired by Walt Disney’s father’s participation at the Fair, or that Chicago is known as the “Windy City” not because of its weather patterns but because of its residents’ endless boasting and “shooting the breeze” about their city. You learn that Burnham went on to design the Flatiron Building and Washington D.C.’s Union Station. You learn that Olmsted, the mastermind behind Central Park and Prospect Park in New York, wanted to transform landscape design into an art as legitimate as painting or writing. These little tidbits of fact will remind you over and over that “The Devil in the White City” is not your typical history book.
Here are some other reviews of “The Devil in the White City.” If you’ve read this book, what did you think? Leave a comment and let’s get a discussion started!
- Keifus Writes!: The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson
- Mark Larson: The Devil in the White City (review: dnf)
- think liz: The Devil in the White City
My husband really liked this book. He writes about crime, so I would imagine both storylines probably interested him. He liked the book at any rate and has urged me to read it several times.
When I picked it up I had never heard of it, but over time I had different friends tell me how much they liked it. I think if you read true crime novels or you’re from Chicago, you’re familiar with this one because it’s excellent in those regards. I’m with your husband, go try it out
Aolha! I am trying to read your page on my iPhone but it doesn’t display properly, any suggestions? Thanks! Stephan
Hello. Great job. I did not expect this on a Wednesday. This is a great story. Thanks!