The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson (2003), a historical nonfiction book, was assigned by one of my book groups.
This book alternates topics. Part of the story is the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The other is a prolific Chicago serial killer in Chicago during this same time span. Lots of people traveled to the Chicago Worlds Fair, the two events are linked in history. It makes sense to combine them in one book.
We had a large discussion group turnout for this group, eleven people. We agreed it should be labeled as historical fiction (not nonfiction). The author assumed a lot about the serial killer and his victims.
My husband happened to read this book when it came out in 2003.
What else did I think of the book, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America (2003) by Erik Larson?
First, there are a lot of names. Too many names in fact. I just let all the names flow over me and paid attention to the stories.
Second, I found the first hour and 15 minutes of this book to be confusing. I thought about listening to it a second time, immediately, but did not. I finished the whole book and then went back and relistened to the beginning. It was not confusing the second time.
Third, I enjoyed the story of the Worlds Fair. I found the Worlds Fair to be more interesting than the serial killer story. But it made total sense to combine the two stories. Other people in my group loved the serial killer part and thought the fair descriptions too tedious.
The only thing I knew from either one of these stories, prior to listening to this book, was the Ferris Wheel.
That (above) was the very first Ferris Wheel (ever) designed and built by George Ferris. It was built to rival the Eiffel Tower built by Gustavo Eiffel for the 1899 Paris Worlds Fair.
I looked up the dates and locations of Worlds Fairs. This is not a complete list, but gives the highlights.
I also looked up the killer, Herman Webster Mudgett aka H H Holmes. He was captured and executed in 1896.
There is a historical fiction book, The Scarlet Mansion by Allan W Eckert, about just HH Holmes, the killer, which I did not read, because it was not available in audio format.
I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized.
StoryGraph -
In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/
This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.
