Foothills Book Club discussion

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America is a 2003 nonfiction historical thriller by American journalist Erik Larson. The book revisits the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, following the stories of two very different history-making men: Daniel Hudson Burnham, the architect of the fair, and H. H. Holmes, the notorious serial killer.

The book explores themes such as the contrast between sanity and insanity; the anonymity that a large modern city affords; the gender roles of men and women at the time; and the difference between Burnham’s large circle of collaborators and Holmes’ isolation.

The Devil in the White City was a New York Times bestseller, a finalist in the 2003 National Book Award, and a 2004 Edgar Award winner.

This has been on my list to read for a long time!