afox98's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting juxtaposition between the story of how the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago came about and the story of a serial killer using the fair to lure victims. I'd give the fair part of the story 5 stars and the serial killer part 3 stars. They were only tangentially related. The fair was an unbelievable triumph that almost didn't happen - beset by arguments among the architects, power struggles between committees, fires, soil issues, and economic troubles in the country. For the serial killer part, there wasn't enough depth to the story for me. However, in reading the book notes, I see now that's because there's not as much verifiable info on him.
monicaa_d's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
4.0
A fascinating look at the trainwreck and triumph that was the Chicago World's Fair. The author spins a narrative perfectly balanced with hard facts, following the major players in the building of the fair as well as a serial killer using the lure of the exposition to murder young people in Chicago. This kept me on my toes and was a great history lesson with plenty of drama to heighten the intrigue.
sarahpuschel's review against another edition
3.0
I love the way that Erik Lawson was able to make history come to life. I love even more that the book runs a parallel timeline, alternating chapters between the Chicago World’s Fair and H.H. Holmes. That being said, the H.H. Holmes chapters are what kept me reading a majority of the book. Having zero interest in architecture, I found some of the World’s Fair chapters in Part 1 to be dry and frequently caught myself just skimming through them to get to the next H.H. Holmes chapter. However, in part 2 (after the construction of the fair), they became more interesting.
washu97's review against another edition
3.0
Another reviewer wrote perfectly what I was thinking throughout the entire book, so I won't try to repeat it in detail. In brief - it feels like the author wanted to write a historical account of the Columbian Expo and his editor said, "Let's spice it up with murder!"
The author tackles 2 books that are only tangentially related and puts them into one incredibly long book that doesn't always flow well from one topic to the other. My biggest complaint is that the author got caught up in the historical language of the time and continued to use it outside of the quoted material. I consider myself to be very well read and quite a word-nerd, yet I ended up downloading the digital copy from the library so that I could utilize the in-book thesaurus and wikipedia. There were simply too many superfluous words when something simpler would do ;)
Overall, the account of the fair and all of its trials was excellent. 4.5 stars for the White City, 2 stars for the Devil = 3 stars for The Decil in the White City.
The author tackles 2 books that are only tangentially related and puts them into one incredibly long book that doesn't always flow well from one topic to the other. My biggest complaint is that the author got caught up in the historical language of the time and continued to use it outside of the quoted material. I consider myself to be very well read and quite a word-nerd, yet I ended up downloading the digital copy from the library so that I could utilize the in-book thesaurus and wikipedia. There were simply too many superfluous words when something simpler would do ;)
Overall, the account of the fair and all of its trials was excellent. 4.5 stars for the White City, 2 stars for the Devil = 3 stars for The Decil in the White City.
camihawk's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the writing and way the author wove in so many stories together to create a full picture of the Chicago World Fair and it's influence on both the world and the nation. While I did find the mechanics to create the World Fair fascinating, there were times where I felt my interest draining and that I didn't need quite that much information.
ktxx22's review against another edition
2.0
....when your video review before edits is over a minute 30 long..... I had a LOT to say. I feel like there was a lot of potential to tell either the story of HH Holmes, and or the Story of the Chicago Worlds Fair.... but to tell them in tandem, because they just so happened to occur at the same time in the same place is NOT enough for me. Both sides of this nonfiction book deserved more attention. I’ve read quite a few nonfiction books this year that handle 1 person or 1 event with detailed expertise. This book for me was lacking. Only giving it 2/5 and if you’d like a recommendation for an excellent, well detailed nonfiction book, Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard comes highly recommended. I will patiently be waiting for the H. H. Holmes book we need as a Serial Killer fan/community. This book is not that book.