The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

I don't feel like the best qualified book club member to be writing this month's blog since I did not finish the book. I'm only on page 132, so that's definitely a weak showing on my part. I just couldn't get excited about the book for the first 100 pages or so, which garnered much sympathy from other book club members. However, I am now enjoying the book and most of the others finished it and liked it. I hope to finish it as well. But it's only just now grabbing my interest. It was definitely a good creepy story for October. One book club member mentioned that Larson must be a good writer because she never thought architecture or serial killers would be topics that she would enjoy reading about. We were able to get the book kit from the library, which is always nice. Multiple copies of the book were included along with the book on tape, discussion questions, and some information about H.H. Holmes printed off from wikipedia. We went along with the discussion questions this time in the sense that we found we talked about most of the questions in the course of our discussion. Below is our version of the questions:

1) How were Holmes and Burnham different and how were they alike?

a) Discuss sociopaths throughout history and how they have been similar.

2) What motivated Chicago to take on the impossible and build the fair? Were their motivations admirable or problematic? Where do we see the same drive and determination in today's world?

3) How were they able to create the dreamlike fantasy land of the fair? To what would you compare the experience of those who attended the World's Fair in the White City? To what extent is escaping from reality positive or negative?

4) Discuss lasting inventions, innovations, and important people who came out of Chicago's World's Fair.

5) What were some of Holmes' motives revealed in the book?

6) Share opinions of the format of the book and the alternating story lines.

7) If you're interested in architecture, this might be a good place to discuss the architects. Sorry, we didn't.

8) Where did Holmes get his power? What weaknesses did he prey on? Why wasn't he caught sooner?

9) How was Chicago in the late 1800s like America today? How is it different?

Food selections that were theme related:

Chicago-style deep dish pizza (yum!)

Candies brought from Turkey in the spirit of the "world's" fair!

Other tasty treats:

Caramel and apples, Candied popcorn, Humus and crackers, Veggies and dip, Snack mix, Candy corn with peanuts, Hot apple cider, Wine