Finished (E-Reader) - "The Devil in the White City" - Erik Larson

"The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson might be the best book I've read in a while.

The book is non-fiction, but reads like a good novel.  The book is based in Chicago at the turn of the last century (end of the 1890's).  Paris has just had a successful World's Fair (where the Eiffel Tower was created) - Chicago picked up the ball and planned an even bigger event for the 400th anniversary of Columbus discovery of America, the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.

The book follows two storylines - the architects getting the fair ready, in a relatively unsophisticated Chicago (home of hog butchering and a good place to be killed), and a sociopathic doctor who plans to kill a lot of women.
The stories intersect basically because Chicago is such an aggressively growing city - lots of folks move to the city for the first time, many are victims and are not heard of again.  The Exposition of 1892 is seen as a way to catapult Chicago into the big times, make a name for the city as a place where more happens than a highway to hog heaven.

The chosen fairgrounds are a wasteland, mostly marsh.  Chicago has learned to grow skyscrapers in very wet ground, and makes some astounding leaps in construction (even downtown was sandy and wet ground).  In only a few years, this marsh must be transformed into parkland - one architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park in New York, was hired to do the grounds - he had very ambitious plans for canals, islands and plants designed to create very specific views and areas within the grounds.   Daniel Burnham had the role of chief architect - his name still resounds in Chicago - it adorns the park with the Field Museum and Soldier Field.

The timing to build the Exposition was very short, and Chicago weather is not necessarily the best.  A tornado actually hit the Exposition when it was operating, heavy, non-stop rains required an opening ceremony on a mostly unfinished park.

The parallel story was of a doctor, who planned to take advantage of the Exposition - he built a hotel for the event with hidden passageways, a soundproof, airtight vault linked to a gas line in his personal office, a personal crematorium in the basement.  His planning indicates the degree of his sociopathy - he designed the building himself, and operated as the chief foreman - he would have workers work on one of the "secrets" only to be fired the next day - he did this frequently such that nobody ever really understood what was being constructed.  He also ran very sophisticated scams - forgery, fake IDs, hidden ownerships - all to keep himself above suspicion.

For the doctor, the Exposition was an event of great convenience - I suspect his story would have continued, fair or not.  However, the book is an excellent read as both the criminal, sociopathic storyline and the race to create the perfect city are interesting in their own rights - juxtaposition makes both stories a breath of fresh air from the other.

Not to spoil, but the "big reveal" at the Exposition was an object to rival the Eiffel Tower.  The buildings of the Exposition were all white, huge and all columns and neo-classical design.  Over the six month fair period, an estimated 27 million people attended, including almost 800,000 on a single day (Chicago day).  Explorers were dispatched across the globe (e.g. to track down entire tribes from Africa to live at the Exposition for a year or so).

I can't say I had heard of the Exposition, though it should still resonate through North America by nature of it's scope, so the educational aspects of the book were much appreciated.