The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at
the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson, engages in bit of hyperbole in
the title (all his books do). Did the
Chicago Columbia Fair of 1893 really change
America? I believe not; American was
already changing, and the fair simply reflected those changes.
Chicago had a sufficient population of young women without a
social network to fall prey to a serial killer.
This urban rootlessness had been around for some time, both in Europe and America. The fair itself is widely indicative of
certain American traits long in existence. Triumphalism. Consumerism. Imperialism.
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| World's Fair after 1894 fire |
What is most telling in this book is that once the fair was over, it literally fell apart, or blew away, or caught on fire. It was made to be broken, yet another
American trait. We live with that
still. Just look at the device in your hand.
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