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

Holy crap!

This is one dark book. I get the combination of the Holmes/Burnham threads, but I can't really say I liked it. They were both interesting, but the switching back and forth, sometimes out of chronological order was disorienting and any suspense built was tempered by annoyance/boredom of hearing about how flowerpots are tacky. The Holmes sections are totally insane and horrifying. I will definitely want to read something light-hearted next. The voice acting was fine; nothing bad to say.

Good listen, Probably not good read

Scott Brick was excellent. I️’m newer to audio books and have read lots of reviews praising him. He did not disappoint.

This book is full of interesting trivia and obviously well-researched. If you enjoyed history class, definitely pick this up. I never did, so a lot of this book was dry and over saturated with names and details. Mr. Blick kept it moving with his voice though. I wish the author had spent equal time on the two stories, but it definitely seemed like most of it was on the exposition.

Either way, I learned a lot about some things I never would have know. Probably won’t listen to again, but would recommend to people who enjoy history

The White City

This book seemed like a great idea. Take two seemingly unrelated subjects, and weave their stories together. Unfortunately, this book is really only one story. The Devil part of the book is more like a footnote to the story of the fair, and the fair story can be fairly boring. I actually got through half the book, until I threw it in the waste basket (metophorically of course). Then I picked up the book six months later to try to finish it, and realized why I had destined it for the waste basket in the first place.

I couldn't help feeling that Larson was inserting his own drama into the story, when the reality was much less exciting. Most the story is spent on Olmstead's (sp?) obsession with flowers and ferryboats (which by the way, is never resolved). There is a ton of drama built into the quest for the new Eifel tower, but when we finally get to the Ferris Wheel, Larson quickly changes to a different subject, and really never picks up that thread again.

As an alternative I would recommend wikipedia.

Fascinating Intersection of Two Stories

Larson did a great job of bringing two distinctly interesting and intriguing stories to life in a single work.

New Chicago resident with a new view of my home.

this is a fantastic chronicle of all the chaos and mayhem of pre to post world's fair chicago. it paints an unbelievably bleak picture of a day in the life before the exposition, how choking smoke from coal furnaces and putrid smells from meat slaughter characterized the city's visage.
on top of that, it's no wonder that amongst the chaos of the world's fair a terror like H.H. Holmes was operating unnoticed, seeing as how mortality surrounding the fairs construction was almost normal.
I moved to this beautiful city not long ago, and I had no idea of the full extent of its colorful past. it's a past of both thick, disturbing darkness, and mezmerizing, majestic white light.
pick it up if you can, and learn something.

A must for every Chicago native!

Where does The Devil in the White City rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Easily one of the top 5 audiobooks I've ever listened to.

Which character – as performed by Scott Brick – was your favorite?

Scott Brick is a masterful narrator. His Holmes was genteel and chilling, the perfect mix. His cadence is excellent throughout the book, and he instills a sense of wonder into the building of the Fair.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook has it all: an engaging and incredibly well-researched story, a flair for the dramatic, exciting and consistent pacing, and an engaging narrator.

Great!

Interesting story, great narration. I was amazed by some of the things they did at the worlds faire. And HH Homes was a fascinating and horrible character!

I liked it so much I listened to it twice

The best book I've ever heard! I highly recommend it especially now that it will be made into a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio soon.

Exceptional Attention to Detail

An effort of unusual historical insight is apparent when reading (or listening) to this story.

awesome

best reader I've listened to, to date. went by very fast. easy to finish. recommended to many people.