So you want to visit Chicago?

Title: The Devil in the White City
Author: Erik Larson
Publisher: Vintage
Copyright: 2003

I am a reader of fiction. I do not like opening a book and finding that I am reading a history textbook. Where is the adventure in that type of reading? After seeing The Devil in the White City laying on a table in Books-A-Million and hearing a recommendation on Books on the Nightstand podcast, I bought the book as a Christmas present for my mother and ended up devouring the narrative non-fiction book myself in three days time.

Before the reading, I did not know anything about Chicago's World Fair of 1893. Of course, throughout my college history courses, I had heard the names of John Root, Daniel Burnham, and Olmsted, the landscape master. But, I had no idea the impact this Fair had on American society - still has on our society. America was entering the turn of the century, coming out of the days of the wild west, and began yearning for a place beside the world leaders in culture, finance, and power. And, the Fair was the beginning, the showpiece of America's new future.

Larson juxtaposes the harsh reality of the streets of Chicago with the gleaming buildings situated in the Fair's White City and the accomplishments and fierce determination of Daniel Burnham with the coldness and deviousness of Dr. Holmes, psychopath. After reading the book, I came away realizing that the U.S. is like the World's Fair. With hard work, determination, and struggle, we can create and have created a shining, bright existence, but behind the gleaming buildings there will always be a bit of evil, something dirty.

Trust me, The Devil in the White City is worth the read.