|
Movies •Books •Music •Food •Tv Shows •Technology •Politics •Video Games •Parenting •Fashion •Green Living •more >

A Quick Tip by DianeB

  • Jun 15, 2010
It was amazing to me that there had been yet another serial killer in Chicago's past and I had never heard about it until I read this book. It was very interesting and I learned a lot about Chicago
Share  
(0)
(0)
(0)
(0)
Was this helpful?
0
Post a Comment
More The Devil In The White City: M... reviews
review by . September 30, 2008
Creepy-cool history of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, intertwined with the history of the serial killer H. H. Holmes who was operating at and around the Fair and may have accounted for anywhere from 9 (confirmed) to 50 (suspected) to even 200 (conjectured) murders.     Reads like an atmospheric slasher novel, except it is history, and thoroughly footnoted from contemporary accounts as well as secondary sources. The couple of scenes where Larson assumes an omniscient authorial …
review by . May 19, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Murder, Mayhem, and National Pride
Erik Larson must have spent a year just doing the research for The Devil in the White City. I probably learned more about our nation's history from reading this book than I did in an entire college course. In the book, Larson combines two stories: the story of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the story of H.H. Holmes, one of the U.S.'s first serial killers. This is an incredible story, and each page of the book is filled with little tidbits that make you think, "Hmm...why did …
review by . October 09, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
As Chicago entered the final decade of the 19th century, it was a black city with a black heart, a figurative and literal pig sty run by a civil administration rife with graft and dominated by the stink of the pig slaughtering industry that was run by the local equivalent of capitalist robber barons. In a shocking affront to New York City's insufferable sense of superiority, Chicago's city fathers somehow won the right to host the 1893 World Fair. Despite the astonishing crime rates, the …
Quick Tip by . October 09, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
An interesting, informative and exciting juxtaposition of two wildly different historical events that took place in Chicago - the creation of the 1893 Columbian Exposition and the terror of America's first documented serial killer, Dr H.H. Holmes.
review by . July 15, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
I'm not usually a fan of non-fiction but this book was amazing. I was spellbound as I read. The author did a great job of describing the time period, it made me almost sad to live now and not then. I was in awe at the descriptions of architecture and building even though I previously had no experience with either of these. That, combined with the descriptions of the "evil" guy's psychotic personality was a great combination that kept me turning the pages. I would recommend …
Quick Tip by . July 05, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
good stuff, learned a lot and got freaked out!
Quick Tip by . July 01, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Loved this! Great look at a unique moment in history and a little known serial killer - nicely woven into one.
Quick Tip by . June 28, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
An excellent combining of history with imagination. Erik Larsen weaves plots together in this book with great skill!
Quick Tip by . June 24, 2010
wow!
Quick Tip by . June 23, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Enjoyed the dark subject matter and historical recount of the world's fair.
see all The Devil In The White City: M... reviews (31)
About the reviewer
Diane Brainard ()
Ranked #1313
Married, 2 adult children - 24 & 22, a dog, 2 cats. I love to read, water ski, party with friends, drive the boat, ride in the boat, party in the boat. Love the sun and the North woods.
Consider the Source

Use Trust Points to see how much you can rely on this review.

You
DianeB
Your ratings:
The Outsiders (Novel)
The Outsiders (book)
Wild Fire
Great Expectations Charles Dickens
Great Expectations (book)
The Body Farm (Kay Scarpetta)
The Body Farm (novel)
rate more to improve this
Recent reviews by DianeB
Ask Alice
a review of Ask Alice
You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up
a review of You say tomato, I say shut up
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
a review of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
About this book

Wiki

The 1893 Chicago World's Fair is the setting for this true account of two very different men: the celebrated architect Daniel H. Burnham, who designed and supervised the construction of the "White City" around which the fair was built; and H.H. Holmes (born Herman Webster Mudgett), a fiendishly clever serial killer posing as a doctor, who murdered scores of people, mostly young women, in his World's Fair Hotel, which contained a gas chamber and a handy crematorium for disposing of his victims. Telling their entwined stories in alternating points of view, Erik Larson illuminates the lives of these two men, but also provides insightful commentary on the changes that were taking place in American society that allowed both phenomena--a grandiose World's Fair and a string of unsolved murders--to take place. The book contains cameo appearances by such late-19th-century celebrities as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison.
view wiki

Tags

Books, Book, Cafe Libri, Usa, History, 19th Century, Chicago Worlds Fair
see all

Details

ISBN-10: 0375725601
ISBN-13: 978-0375725609
Author: Erik Larson
Genre: History
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: May 03, 2005
see all (6)
Lists with this book
The Shadow of the Wind
Around the World in 80 Books!
I, Claudius
Favorite books
I, Claudius
My Favorite All-Time Books
see all lists (3)
First to Review

"a pretty good book"
© 2013 Lunch.com, LLC All Rights Reserved
Lunch.com - Relevant reviews by real people.
()
This is you!
Ranked #
Last login
Member since
reviews
comments
ratings
questions
compliments
lists