A Devil of a Tale

Proving yet again that truth can be stranger than fiction is The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, a gripping account of two men involved in the 1893 Chicago World's Fair—serial murderer Dr. H.H. Holmes, who used the event to lure young women to their deaths, and celebrated architect Daniel Burnham, the fair's overseer (and creator of such notable structures as New York's Flatiron Building and Washington, D.C.'s Union Station). Author Erik Larson is in the midst of a 16-city tour for this Crown release (copies in print: 175,000), which PW's starred review called "breathtaking... everything popular history should be." Highlights of the extensive promotional campaign: NPR's Weekend Edition, Today, The Diane Rehm Show, New York magazine (a "Book of the Week" selection), Reader's Digest ("Editor's Choice" feature), etc.

With reporting by Dick Donahue