Erik Larson, the author of The Devil in the White City, was born on January 3, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York. He studied Russian history at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated at the top of his class. One year later, Larson enrolled at another Ivy League School, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he graduated in 1978. After starting his career as a journalist for The Bucks County Courier Times in Pennsylvania, he worked for The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Harper’s. Clearly, Erik Larson is a highly decorated and accomplished writer. The Devil in the White City simultaneously tells the stories of the architects who designed the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, and a serial killer who took advantage of the World Fair to kill several unsuspecting tourists. Larson contrasts the brilliance of the fair’s
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He used the fair to his advantage in order to find and kill many victims. Holmes loved Chicago, for grim reasons, as the book described. It was said that he loved how the “smoke and din could envelop a woman and leave no hint that she ever existed.” Holmes was a master manipulator. For example, he convinced a girl named Myrta Belknap to stay with him in Chicago. To Myrta, being with Holmes seemed exciting. She came from Minneapolis, a small and boring town compared to the booming city of Chicago. Holmes was described as “handsome, warm, and obviously wealthy.” Eventually, Myrta came to Chicago, only to discover that it was not all Holmes described it to be. Even so, she married Holmes, and never would have expected him to be a murderer. She described him as having a gentle heart, and being kind to children and animals. Although they later “divorced” (the divorce was never made official), Holmes personality would not cause him to even remotely be perceived as a serial
He used the fair to his advantage in order to find and kill many victims. Holmes loved Chicago, for grim reasons, as the book described. It was said that he loved how the “smoke and din could envelop a woman and leave no hint that she ever existed.” Holmes was a master manipulator. For example, he convinced a girl named Myrta Belknap to stay with him in Chicago. To Myrta, being with Holmes seemed exciting. She came from Minneapolis, a small and boring town compared to the booming city of Chicago. Holmes was described as “handsome, warm, and obviously wealthy.” Eventually, Myrta came to Chicago, only to discover that it was not all Holmes described it to be. Even so, she married Holmes, and never would have expected him to be a murderer. She described him as having a gentle heart, and being kind to children and animals. Although they later “divorced” (the divorce was never made official), Holmes personality would not cause him to even remotely be perceived as a serial