The Whiting Library Book Club monthly discussion for October is being held in person at the library AND simultaneously live on Zoom. The discussion will take place at 3pm on Wednesday, October 20th, 2021. The book pick for October is Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson.Â
Please feel free to join the book club group any month, all are welcome! If you need a copy to read, Whiting Library has copies ready to lend. Just give us a call or shoot us an email to reserve your copy.
If you have any questions or would like to get on the email list for the Book Club, please contact Deirdre at the library. You can email whitinglibrary1@gmail.com or call 875-2277.
About the book from Goodreads:
Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book’s categorization to be sure that ‘The Devil in the White City’ is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair’s construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor.
Burnham’s challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous “White City” around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair’s incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison.
The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World’s Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims.
Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but it works. The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson’s skillful writing. – John Moe
The Zoom Meeting login information is here:
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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81900041488
Meeting ID: 819 0004 1488