2011 Random Read #7...Wondrous & macabre happenings in 1890's Chicago

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America is two stories, one the mad construction and wonders of the Chicago's World Fair of 1893 and the other the terrible career of conning and killing by a young man going by the name of H.H. Holmes, juxtaposed in order to give the full picture, light and dark, of a certain time in a a certain place.
    Erik Larson, the writer of this book, has proven himself capable of adequately handling this sort story.  I use the word 'adequately' because at times the complicated score of characters involved in the building of the Fair becomes jumbled and occasionally the artistic license necessary to convey the story of Holmes becomes a bit heavy handed and overly evident, but with that said he was able to illustrate the wonders the Fair held and the horrors that Holmes committed evocatively.
   Just to talk of the Fair for a moment, to learn of all the amazing innovations that it presented was astounding.  Firstly, as a person raised in Florida, to learn that the bedtime stories of this Fair told by his father may very well have been what inspired the vision and drove Walt Disney to create the wonderland that is Disney World is amazing, and truly self-evident once you look closely, everything from the purposefully laid landscaping to the intentional uniform planning all echoes back to the Fairs execution.
   Also, that this Fairs choice of alternating current over direct current, chosen so based on the bids given by the respective contractors, is what may have won the war for AC current and shaped the way all of us power our homes is fairly fascinating.  Lastly, the centerpiece of the Fair, what the architects of the event chose as their way to 'Out-Eiffel Eiffel' and his tower in Paris, was the worlds first Ferris wheel, a monstrous marvel of engineering which stood at over 260 feet with 36 cars each of which could accommodate 60 people each for a max occupancy of 2160 people.
   A fun book for history buffs, Chicago lovers, or serial killer nuts, and on related note this book is said to be soon made into film starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the killer himself Mr. H.H. Holmes.