Hm…

I didn’t know what to title this one-book post (hence the “Hm…”). 

THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY BY ERIK LARSON

So I just finished this book a couple days ago, but I don’t want to forget to review it. This is another of that rare species, the nonfiction book I enjoyed. In 1893, Daniel Burnham was one of America’s most prominent architects, the designer of Union Station in Washington DC, the Flatiron Building in New York City, and – most notably – the Chicago World’s Fair. In 1893, Dr H.H. Holmes, a charming and seemingly well-meaning man, opened his World’s Fair Hotel in Chicago, where there were only vacancies for young, beautiful, vulnerable women. Burnham would be remembered as producing the most beautiful event in American history, and Holmes would be remembered as one of the most prolific and remorseless serial killers in American history. The juxtaposition of the light and the dark, the White City and the Black, makes this book extremely addicting. As one of my friends put it, “It becomes an obsession. You can’t stop reading, even if you want to.” The haunting plot is not for the faint-hearted, and I found myself wishing this was fiction. I’d definitely recommend it to people who enjoy history and/or murder mysteries.

[Barnes & Noble]

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~ by jtotheill on 14 October 2008.

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