The Devil in the White City

Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

By: Erik Larson

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death.

Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds—a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium.

Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake.

The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. Erik Larson’s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.

©2003 Erik Larson (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

National Book Awards, Short-listed

Edgar Allan Poe Award Winner, Fact Crime, 2004

"Engrossing . . . exceedingly well documented . . . utterly fascinating.” —Chicago Tribune

“A dynamic, enveloping book. . . . Relentlessly fuses history and entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a novel. . . . It doesn’t hurt that this truth is stranger than fiction.” —The New York Times

“A wonderfully unexpected book. . . Larson is a historian . . . with a novelist’s soul.” —Chicago Sun-Times

Fascinating, engaging, wonderfully performed by the reader

Highly recommend it. Often I struggle to get through audiobooks, this one was engaging & fascinating,
The story is incredible and well researched, the performance of the reader is superb, thus making it perfect for listening

Grisly story

The murderer described in this novel is despicable. I almost wish I didn’t read this awful story. Otherwise, the story around the world’s fair was interesting.

Surprising history

It was indeed amzaing to learn about the accomplishments in Chicago for the worlds fair and the first serial killer in the US. But I can't say the book kept me coming back. Almost no tales of history do.

Fascinating!

Lawson’s research was thorough, but the way he weaved historical facts into two stories told simultaneously took talent. The story of the World’s Fair drew me in because even with todays advances and technology, we would be hard-pressed to accomplish what they did with horse, trains, and man power. It was truly fascinating! The story of Holmes’ killings would seem not to fit with the story of the fair, but Lawson worked them in seamlessly. I listened on Audible, and the reader did a great job. I would “read” it again just to be in awe one more time.

Fantastic, inspiring and chilling all at once

A fantastic story, well presented and woven to perfection (albeit with some small inaccuracies here and there - for example, Geyer's wife and daughter did not die in a fire and in fact lived for many years to come), but these are not significant enough to spoil this outstanding piece of historical research. Can't wait for The Splendid and the Vile.

boringg

4 chapters in. it only talks about architecture. only briefly about Holmes, then more architecture

An awe inspiring event and the epitome of evil described in perfect harmony.

The end of a century with an event that will live in infamy, but the beginning of a new evil onto the world. This was actually the first choice of my book club that my wife an I just started after joining Audible. Couldn’t have picked a better book to bring me back into the fold of the world of curiosity. Narrator was excellent! Can’t wait to listen again in a few years!

Solid, Enjoyable, Overrated, Miscategorized

THIS IS NOT A TRUE CRIME, SERIAL KILLER, SUSPENSE, MURDER, etc story whatsoever. I will never understand why this book is constantly mentioned as an all-time great when you research crime and serial killer books. This is 90 percent an historical and architectural book and only 10 percent HH Holmes. And the majority of that 10 percent is his business schemes, financial games, and wife manipulations. The last two hours zero in on his downfall. But other than that he’s tossed in here and there. That said, the historical representation and the architectural elements of this book are fascinating. I learned more about that time period and some important historical figures from this book than I did throughout all of formal schooling. So for that reason it’s definitely worth a listen!!!!

But again, if you’re primarily looking for true crime/serial killer content. THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!!!

Way more "World's Fair" than "Devil" in this story

The title of this book is very misleading - it is a story about the White City with a tiny bit of Devil thrown in. I'd selected this title to hear a story about H. H. Holmes, one of the first serial killers identified in the US; Instead, I got a story that was almost exclusively about the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. I had expected Holmes' history to be more closely woven to the World's Fair, since the author chose to write about both in a single book, but the only commonality appeared to be the timeline in Chicago. And to be fair, it was a somewhat interesting story, with a lot of detail about the Fair, but I spent a fair amount of it wondering when we were going to get details about Holmes and his hotel. But the details about the hotel were sparse and not in-depth.

good read

very detailed and colorful descriptions. The narration was good but I think I would have enjoyed more if I'd read and not listened. The details were too defined for my taste in a listen. I found myself drifting off then had to go back because I'd missed an important detail