Book Info:

Classification: History
Author: Erik Larson
Publisher:Random House
Copyright: 2002

Review #1

Reviewer: Gayle
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Who would have thought that one event; the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, could change the cultural, social and economic landscape of America. Oh yeah, the event also allowed America’s first serial killer, H. H. Holmes to lure young women to their deaths. This well-researched historical account reads like a novel. There is the development of the skyscraper; the first Ferris wheel; the modern gardens of Olmstead; the beginning of the labor laws; the beginning of modern police investigation; a social climate where women travel for the first time without chaperones; the development of modern electricity and so much more filling every page. The way Larson alternates between events involving the White City (the location of the Fair) and changes occurring in the surrounding chaotic city of Chicago, keeps the book interesting and hard to put down. Every year there is one book I give at the holidays and this book has been my pick since its publication.

Review #2

Reviewer: Marilyn
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: The 1893 Chicago World Fair (Exposition) is the setting with parallel plots of America's first known serial killer juxtaposed with the fair. Striking examples of how brilliant minds can choose to use their talents for good or for evil. Horrible acts of depravation occur, but you'll mostly remember all the examples of inventions created for the fair which are now a part of our everyday lives. You'll be amazed.