provides an overview of Erik Larson 's 2003 book “The Devil in the White City”, including a summary, an analysis of the book 's structure, and a discussion of the real-life individuals and events at the heart of the story. !!!Who 's the Devil, and Where is the White City? When Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese team up to make a big-budget movie based on your book, you know you 've arrived. This doesn 't happen to most nonfiction authors, but it 's happening to Erik Larson, best known for his 2003…

Erik Larson’s literary nonfiction novel “The Devil in the White City” surrounds the events of the 1893 Columbian Exposition World’s Fair in Chicago. Larson does a magnificent job intertwining the lives of two men who were changed by the events of the fair. Daniel H. Burnham, the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World 's Fair and Dr. H. H. Holmes, the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. The purpose of this review is not only to summarize Larson’s…

An individual can psyche himself or herself on believing that a prescribed drug given from pharmaceutical doctors are making them feel better. Madness in today’s world can be covered up by those medications, unless everyone is brainwashed in believing that it can. In present society, medicine given to people to “treat” them for certain mental illnesses is normal to see. In the nineteenth century, people who suffered from mental madness had to deal with the insanity, such as depression or hearing…

Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City is a historical novel that portrays true events that occurred during the final years of the Gilded Age. Larson employs his vast research in order to write a historically accurate book, while filling in the subjective details all in order to make for an interesting read for the audience. Although the novel is based on historical facts, the actual goal for Larson is to portray a sharp contrast between good and evil, and he does this by presenting two main…

personality. In the novel “The Devil in The White City” by Erik Larson he develops a character full of evil motives and shows how he slowly develops into the murderous monster he becomes. Although this character in real life argued that he was born with the intent to kill, Larson’s way of writing seems to disagree. Through early signs at a young age, torturous murder tactics, and total control over decisions Larson comes to the conclusion that although Holmes believes he’s been born into this life, it’s…

on dominant issues by building public awareness. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson helps highlight the major issue of homicide and publicizes it through personal stories by incorporating it in the story about the Chicago World’s Fair. In 1893, Chicago hosted the World’s Fair during which a man named H.H. Holmes became known as one of America’s first serial killers.The book contains the personal stories of both Holmes and his victims. As a child, he was brilliant and displayed an interest…

The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson Prologue The prologue begin aboard the Olympic following a man named Daniel Burnham on April 4, 1912. Burnham is suffering of severe pain in his foot. Burnham tries to send a message to his friend Millet who is aboard the Titanic, but the message was not allowed to be sent. Burnham thinks back to the fair and reminisces of the people that helped with the fair and thinks about who is still alive from the fair. Part 1 The first chapter introduces Chicago…

Journal Entry #1 Erik Larson has organized The Devil in the White City chronologically, alternating between the construction of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and the evolution of a serial killer. In doing so, Larson is able to explore the details of the fair in-depth, while keeping the interest of the reader. By using this organizational structure, Larson is also able to tell the gruesome tale of a serial killer without scaring away his audience. Overall, the pairing of these two stories helps…

The textbook definition of a serial killer is someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in less than a month (“Serial” 1). H.H. Holmes was a devious and handsome young man. He was a very dangerous person that could not be trusted. On the other hand, the textbook definition of an architect is a person who designs buildings and in many cases helps supervise those projects. One of America’s greatest architects in history was Daniel Hudson Burnham. He led America to do great things in…

America was intimidated by France’s nationalism celebrated during their 1889 World 's Fair and decided to celebrate themselves. On May 1st, the Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago to celebrate everything that America has held sacred since the beginning of time. In the sinister non-fiction novel The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, the haunting tale of the events that happened behind the scenes at the 1893 World’s Fair are recounted and used to analyze how society was impacted. The good reviews…