THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY
“As absorbing a piece of popular history as one will ever hope to find. Readers will soon forget that Larson’s work is nonfiction and, instead, imagine that they are holding a fictional page-turner.”
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“[Larson] has a spooky eye for the small stories that hum and flicker underneath grand narratives, the unlikely intersections that so beautifully illuminate and amplify our understanding of history. In the soaring dreams of Daniel Burnham and the hellish ones of Henry Holmes, Larson has paired two unlikely stories that paint a dazzling picture of the Gilded Age and prefigure the American century to come.”
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“In a style that is suspenseful as well as entertaining, Larson shows us how both our highest aspirations and our most loathsome urges figured in the creation of the modern world.”
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“Enchanting.”
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“A wonderfully unexpected book…. An essential volume in the annals of true crime literature that evokes Truman Capote’s
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“Fascinating…. Saturated with historical detail.”
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“The juxtaposition of the two main characters—architect Daniel H. Burnham and murderer H. H. Holmes—is fascinating. The combination of the birth of Chicago as a world-class city, the magic of the Fair, and the creepy serial killer makes for a compelling read.”
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“Embedded … [with] treasures of description and anecdote…. Larson has crafted a work of excellence, not just suspenseful but historically informative in the best bedtime-story way. An ultra-satisfying read.”
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“A thoroughly engaging portrait of America as it was, and the impact of that America on the society we inhabit today.”
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“[Larson] succeeds at wringing out an affecting sort of docu-fictional history from his nose-to-the-ground detective work, dabblings into forensic psychology and careful reading of contemporary sources. Like Laura Hillenbrand’s
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“Enthralling narratives that fully transport the reader into the past. An unqualified success.”
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“A thrilling account. Suspenseful, rich in period detail….
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“Larson tells this true story with a novelist’s verve, conjuring the grandeur of the scene, the power of the historical moment…. He brings to life the human emotions and frailties behind great events, often with humor…. Larson makes us long to see that vanished city by the lake, and wish for a little of the innocence lost.”
“A book as lively as its title….
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“An irresistible page-turner that reads like the most compelling, sleep-defying fiction.”
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“[Larson’s use of] Burnham’s creative triumph and Holmes’ triumph of destruction … as a sort of yin and yang of the human spirit is convincing. Alternating chapters from each story make the other more compelling, and the end result is a far more pungent, more compelling picture of an era than either narrative could have achieved alone.”
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“A spectacular and grisly tale.”
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“Absorbing. Larson has an eye for the heartbreaking detail.”
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“A vivid history of the glittering Chicago World’s Fair and its dark side…. Larson is a talented writer with a gift for surprising language, and an admirable impulse to show and not tell. The book whips back and forth from character to character, anecdote to anecdote, building plenty of momentum in the process.”
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“[Shows us] the glory to which human imagination can soar, and the horror to which it can sink. Simply terrific.”
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“A great story, recounted with authority, entertainment, and insight…. Larson writes with marvelous confidence, enthusiasm, polish, and scholarship.”
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“Fascinating, detailed and novelistic.”
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“Vastly entertaining…. Larson sets his scene splendidly. His description of the fair itself, of its grandiosity and almost magical impact, is stellar. He has given us a rousing and moving story … of the heights and depths of which we humans are capable.”
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ALSO BY ERIK LARSON
ERIK LARSON
THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY
Erik Larson, author of the international bestseller
