Friday, January 20, 2012

The Devil in the White City


For Book Club Friday this week, I am going to give you my review of the book The Devil in the White City (Murder, Magin, and Madness at the Fair the Changed America), by Erik Larson.


The summary on the back side of the book goes as follows

Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson's spell binding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men - the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair, striving to secure America's place in the world; and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction.

This book started a little slow for me. There are a LOT of names in it, as well as a lot of history. I had a hard time keeping things straight for the first few chapters.
But once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. I am NOT a history buff, so I was happy with the fact that the story is all about the history around the fair, because it is a HUGE part of America. The chapters jumped back and forth between the happenings of the fair, and the crazy world of the serial killer H.H. Holmes.

Overall, for a non-fiction book I would give it 4 stars out of 5. I've read better historical non-fiction books before, but this one had a lot more relevant information in it. 

I would recommend it to someone who like true crime and history.

2 comments:

Courtney said...

oooh! i'm a history nerd and this is already in my queue! CANNOT wait now!!! Thanks!

Unknown said...

Hey love! Tell me more about the book club that you're a part of. I'm the biggest book nerd that you'll ever meet and I love, love, love reading every kind of books :)