Erik Larson is the author of six New York Times bestsellers, most recently The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, which examines how Winston Churchill and his “Secret Circle” went about surviving the German air campaign of 1940-41. Larson’s The Devil in the White City is set to be a Hulu limited series; his In the Garden of Beasts is under option by Tom Hanks for a feature film. He recently published an audio-original ghost story, No One Goes Alone, which has been optioned by Chernin Entertainment, in association with Netflix. His Thunderstruck has been optioned by Sony Pictures Television for a limited TV series. Larson lives in Manhattan with his wife, who is a writer and retired neonatologist; they have three grown daughters.
“Engrossing . . . exceedingly well documented . . . utterly
fascinating.” —Chicago Tribune
“A dynamic, enveloping book. . . . Relentlessly fuses history and
entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a
novel. . . . It doesn’t hurt that this truth is stranger than
fiction.” —The New York Times
"So good, you find yourself asking how you could not know this
already." —Esquire
“Another successful exploration of American history. . . . Larson
skillfully balances the grisly details with the far-reaching
implications of the World’s Fair.” —USA Today
“As absorbing a piece of popular history as one will ever hope to
find.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“Paint[s] a dazzling picture of the Gilded Age and prefigure[s] the
American century to come.” —Entertainment Weekly
“A wonderfully unexpected book. . . Larson is a historian . . .
with a novelist’s soul.” —Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh from the triumph of Isaac's Storm, which told the story of the deadly 1900 Galveston hurricane, Larson leaps into a dual tale set around the World's Columbian Exposition, semi-officially known as the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. The event was to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of America. It did that and also highlighted America's second most populous city, filled with energy, smoke, architectural genius, and animal and sometime human slaughter. Architect Daniel H. Burnham faced a near impossible task: design and construct hundreds of buildings, some monumental in size and grandeur, in the face of an incredibly tight schedule. The author describes the challenges Burnham faced, but his greatest challenge and greatest achievement was the melding of the diverse cast of characters who created the Great White City, so-called because most of the fair's buildings were painted white. Seminal landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted was on hand to complain and create; so were contentious union organizers and agitators, jealous colleagues, builders, and wheeler-dealers. Meanwhile, a few blocks away, Herman Webster Mudgett, a.k.a. Henry H. Holmes, had built a bizarre structure aimed at trapping, exploiting, and killing young women. The story of the psychopath contrasts with Burnham's, though sometimes the analogies seem strained or absent. Reader Scott Brick has a young and mildly expressive voice; what is lacking is dialog-even invented (educated, of course) dialog would have added an element of interest and suspense. Still, the tale is finely crafted and deeply researched. An excellent selection for both American history and true crime collections.-Don Wismer, Cary Memorial Lib., Wayne, ME Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
"Engrossing . . . exceedingly well documented . . . utterly
fascinating." -Chicago Tribune
"A dynamic, enveloping book. . . . Relentlessly fuses history and
entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a
novel. . . . It doesn't hurt that this truth is stranger than
fiction." -The New York Times
"So good, you find yourself asking how you could not know this
already." -Esquire
"Another successful exploration of American history. . . . Larson
skillfully balances the grisly details with the far-reaching
implications of the World's Fair." -USA Today
"As absorbing a piece of popular history as one will ever hope to
find." -San Francisco Chronicle
"Paints a dazzling picture of the Gilded Age and prefigure the
American century to come." -Entertainment Weekly
"A wonderfully unexpected book. . . Larson is a historian . . .
with a novelist's soul." -Chicago Sun-Times
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