The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness... by Erik Larson

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Description

Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson's spellbinding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men--the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair, striving to secure America’s place in the world; and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his... read more

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Summary

Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Cast of Characters

Herman Webster Mudgett, PhD: Also known as Dr. H. H. Holmes.
Clara A. Lovering: The first wife of Holmes.
Myrta Z. Belknap: The second wife of Holmes.

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Memorable Quotes

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“It was so easy to disappear, so easy to deny knowledge, so easy in the smoke and din to mask that something dark had taken root. This was Chicago, on the eve of the greatest fair in history.”
“'I was born with the devil in me,'" he wrote. "I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing.”
“He broke prevailing rules of casual intimacy. He stood too close, stared too hard, touched too much and long and women adored him for it.”
“It was so easy to disappear, so easy to deny knowledge, so very easy in the smoke and din to mask that something dark had taken root. This was Chicago, on the eve of the greatest fair in history.”
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Setting & Important Places

Chicago

Organizations

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First Sentence

A thousand trains a day entered or left Chicago.

Evils Imminent (A Note)
Prologue: Aboard the Olympic
Part I: Frozen Music
Part II: An Awful Fight
Part III: In the White City
Part IV: Cruelty Revealed
Epilogue: The Last Crosing
Notes and Sources
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Illustration Credits
Index