I'm dreaming of The White City

Thursday Book Group

The Devil in the White City

by

Erik Larson

This week was a good read. It was all fact. 

Many creepy facts.

It starts in the 1890's and describes The World's Fair of 1893. 

They made it into The White City.

I learned many interesting facts about how disgusting Chicago was during this time.

Most all of the dead animals went into the river that flows through Chicago.

Gross.

Luckily it is a lot cleaner now. (or is it?)

It focuses on the director/main architect of the fair, 

Daniel Burnham.

It also focuses on the first known serial killer in America,

Herman Webster Mudgett. 

a.k.a. Dr. H.H. Holmes.

a.k.a. creepiest man that ever lived.

Here is something he said...just to TRY and grasp his intense creepiness.

"I was born with the devil in me. 

I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, 

no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing."

Ah! 

Anyway, it follows both of their lives.

So many things went into The World's Fair of 1893. 

Even Mudgett's hotel, that he specifically built to murder

women that came to the city alone.

It is estimated that he killed more than 200 people.

He was very slick. 

He didn't get caught in Chicago.

It wasn't until he was tracked down in Philadelphia for insurance fraud that detective Geyer finally started unveiling all of the heinous acts Mudgett committed.

Burnham built the White City with the help of many architects from Chicago and New York. 

I definitely will not go into all the detail...

but here are a few things that came about 

because of the World's Fair:

-The Ferris Wheel (it never faltered...worked on the first time around and held 2,000 people!)

-Shredded Wheat

-Cracker Jack

-Creepy serial killer

(he hearted Jack the Ripper)

Side Note:

I went on a Jack the Ripper tour when in London, and he was kinda scary.

Psychopaths maybe aren't too normal.

But I wonder if they think they are?

Interesting.

Anyway, The Devil in the White City is a history must read. 

It has lots of facts, but tells it in a story type of way.

Lots of depressing things happened leading up to the fair, but it provided America with a happy place to go in a time when many banks were failing and many people did not have jobs.

Unfortunately, it later burned.

I would have loved to see the city that set the stage for the American future.

I would not have loved to see the inside of Mudgett's 

"World's Fair Hotel"

Super wish this was still in Chicago.

It's still a marvelous city.

Go Cubs!

Next Week:

Guns, Germs, & Steel

by

Jared Diamond