Let’s talk books, shall we? The Scottsbluff library sponsors two wonderful book discussion groups each month. This month, the discussion group, which meets on the first Tuesday of each month read "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. When it was published, reviewers lavished praise upon the book. I was curious to read it but never took the opportunity. The Literary Book Club needed a discussion leader for August. Since I wanted to read "The Devil in the White City" for quite some time, I agreed to lead the group. (This was before I read the book about NO.)

"The Devil in the White City" is two stories in one. The first is the story of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, "The World’s Columbian Exposition" or "White City" as it came to be known. (The Columbian Exposition was in honor of the 400^th anniversary of Columbus voyage in 1492.) The 1890 census crowned Chicago as the second most populated city in the United States. Chicago boosters were determined to prove Chicago a city of the first rank. They won a fierce competition against New York to host the 1893 World’s Fair. Their goal was to outdo the Paris Exposition of 1889, and the glorious engineering and architectural marvel of that fair, the Eiffel Tower. Noted Chicago architect Daniel Burnham brought together to most renowned architects and engineers in America to create the spectacle, which became the "White City". So named because all the building were painted white and were lighted with electric lights at night.

The other part of the story is that of Dr. Herman Mudgett a.k.a. H. H. Holmes, a lady-killer both figuratively and literally. Holmes moved to Chicago in the years immediately preceding the world’s fair. He claimed to be a pharmacist. Holmes was also a bigamist., a con-artist, and scoundrel of the first order. Upon arriving in Chicago, he purchased a pharmacy, but curiously both the former owner and his wife disappeared never to be seen again. In preparation for the world’s fair, Holmes built a hotel/chamber of horrors. He installed gas vents in each room with on and off switches his office, a hidden slide to the basement just big enough for a human body, a basement crematorium, and a sound proof vault in his office. Construction workers came and went because Holmes never paid them. No one had a clear concept of the horrors this building would supply. Holmes was a monster and the first executed serial killer in the United States.

I found the book interesting but preferred the part that dealt with the World’s Fair. The obstacles its builders overcame to make this fair a success were tremendous. The Mudgett/Holmes sections of the book were disturbing to say the least. The following are comments from our Tuesday discussion group, which may help clarify the general feeling of this book.

"Do you really have to write about his book?"

"Now, I know why Pabst Blue Ribbon is called that." (Pabst won the Blue Ribbon for beers at the fair.)

"The serial killer part of the story is perverse. It ruined the book for me."

"The connection between the fair and the serial killer was not clearly made."

"I was bothered because the police department did nothing about all the missing women. The more things change the more they stay the same."

"It wasn’t an average time. People were coming to Chicago left and right to work at the stockyards and the fair. The police force was inadequate to meet the situation."

"The author was comparing good and evil that is why these two stories were told in the same book. The men who took on the challenge of the worlds fair and rose to the occasion represented the good. Holmes took advantage of the situation for great evil."

"I learned what the definition of a psychopath is."

"The book was very informative and told about an interesting and forgotten time in our history."

"We learned why the "windy city" is called the "windy city". It wasn’t because of the wind. It was because of the braggadocio of its leading citizens."

"The Ferris Wheel part of the story was fascinating."

"I wondered what happened to the guy who went to find the cannibals in Africa? He just disappeared!" (I don’t know, but it is food for thought.)

This gives you some of the "flavor" of the book and also the "flavor" of discussion we enjoy on the first Tuesday of the month. The "White City" astounded its visitors. To understand the impact of this fair, we must put ourselves into the minds of citizens of the nineteenth century. Never before had they seen such wonders. Those wonders included Cream of Wheat, Shredded Wheat, Pabst Beer, Aunt Jemima’s syrup, Juicy Fruit gum, carbonated soda, hamburgers, the electric light and the world’s first Ferris Wheel. It can be described as the Disneyland of the nineteenth-century, but it was so much more. I hope you enjoy "The Devil in the White City" by Eric Larson.

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