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  • The Devil in the White City

  • Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
  • Written by: Erik Larson
  • Narrated by: Scott Brick
  • Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (252 ratings)

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The Devil in the White City

Written by: Erik Larson
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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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.

What the critics say

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

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What listeners say about The Devil in the White City

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Tee
  • 2017-10-12

Dry non-fiction

If you like matter-of-fact non-fiction, this story may be for you.

I did not enjoy the book. It reads like a compilation of news reports. The narrator read with an unemotional voice.

There are two storylines - that of Daniel Burnham in the planning and construction of the 1893 Chicago World Fair, and the account of H.H. Holmes the serial killer who lived in Chicago at that time. Each storyline is more or less self-contained. That they should be juxtaposed in one book gives me the impression that Larsen is simply trying to double the thickness of his book.

Warning: There are accounts of murders which the author had pieced together from his research, including of children. I find these chilling and unsettling because they indeed took place.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Well written

Really enjoyed it. Be warned, this book does contain content regarding a serial killer that is fairly explicit. Regardless, it is an amazing book!

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4 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A boring book about... a Serial Killer?

This book wasn't what I was expecting based on reviews, hype, and general talk of a film. This is a book about the history of the Chicago World's Fair, with a little bit of HH Holmes in it. I guess I expected it to be the other way around. I was boring to me as it wasn't what I expected, hearing about ledgers, finances and health issues of the people who made the fair. It does cover a lot of interesting content but a huge majority of it was just mundane, every-day stuff. If you're into history and that sort of thing I can imagine it would be fairly interesting but even then a lot of the content was rather stagnate for me. I've never fallen asleep listening to books but I fell asleep often listening to this one - which is crazy when you consider it's about a serial killer. The serial killer stuff IS very disturbing. I don't say this out of needing it to be more morbid or gory I was just more interested in the history of HH Holmes, how he was caught and what was learned as a result. I did find the history of the Ferris wheel interesting, and of course a few other little factoids. But if you're buying this book to learn about HH Holmes... he's sort of a background thing. Voice actor for the narration was excellent though

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Rob
  • 2019-04-04

Fragmented

Struggled to finish it. Fragmented . I will not keep this book. Certainly not Larson's best

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

True crime lovers beware

Lower your expectations for how much you’re going to learn about H. H. Holmes. It’s nothing you don’t already know. If you’re not here for that, then it’s a lovely book about architecture and the world’s fair.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Ignore the bad reviews

I am only here to counter the reviews that almost made me ignore this book. I really enjoyed it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not what I expected

I really was hoping to read about the subject of this book H H Holmes. A lot of the book, probably about 70% of it is purely focussed on the Worlds Fair and the minute details and personalities that undertook the creation of it. I was a lot less about the first serial killer. It was well read and still interesting but would not choose again if I knew.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very interesting

Don’t expect non stop action. This book is about living at the turn of the century and specifically the Chicago world fare. It also revolve around the actions of a cereal killer during the same time.
Between the two events I gather that living at that time was very hazardous.
Well written, good performance, kept me interested.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Time I will never get back

This book was not about the World Fair of 1893 nor the serial killer Holmes nor the architects of the World Fair. The book was all over the place and had no flow or true plot. Not worth the time.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Elegantly woven historical non-fiction

You almost forget that you aren't listening to a murder mystery novel, so sensational is the material. If you love learning about history, the story of the fair's coming to fruition is awe-inspiring. And if you are a true crime junky, the story of Holmes is right up your alley.

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