The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America | 誠品線上

白城魔鬼: 奇蹟與謀殺交織的博覽會

內容簡介

內容簡介 This New York Times bestseller intertwines the true tale of the 1893 World's Fair and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction.Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds—a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium. Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake.The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. Erik Larson’s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.

各界推薦

各界推薦 【誠網編輯推薦】小心藍眼睛 文／butter 如果以小說的標準來看待這本書，那麼可能會有部份讀者覺得「太扯了！警察怎麼可能沒注意到那個腳印..」諸如此類，或是覺得細節太多、過於寫實。我想提醒讀者，這本書並不是一本小說，它在2003年獲得的獎項是「愛倫坡獎（Edgar Awards）最佳犯罪實錄」、入圍決選的是「國家書卷獎非文學類」。請記得，它是真實發生的事件，然而不可思議得讓人覺得比小說還更曲折離奇。 而以紀錄文學來看，作者善用了他曾任記者的能力，把事情重新梳理、描述得十分引人入勝。以《Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil善惡花園》、《The City of Falling Angels天使墜落的城市》聞名的作者約翰．伯蘭特(John Berendt)，被譽為創造了「Faction」這個名詞。Faction指的是以真實的歷史人物、真實的歷史事件為本，以小說式敘事筆法寫成的文學作品。我想本書也可以歸類為一本傑出的Faction作品。 是否世紀末總是那樣充滿不確定性、未來晦暗不明，而讓人心也浮動不已。期待又充滿不確定性的激動，沸騰喧囂。 十九世紀末的歐美各大城輪流舉辦博覽會，利用這樣的機會打響城市的名聲、展現實力（包括「世界第一」的高度競賽），也興築城市的主體建設、完成硬體的都市計畫，造就城市的資產。這次博覽會，除了完成芝加哥市早期的建築，也影響了後來的人民生活和這個城市的定位，從愛迪生(Thomas Edison))和泰斯拉(Nikola Tesla)的直流電、交流電之爭，到第一次的國際數學會議舉行，甚至是拉鍊的首次面世。 1893年的芝加哥，在這樣的背景之下，也成就了一些懂得把握機會的人物，這個即將跨入下個紀元的時代，充滿野心、吸附不安的人心。殺人魔賀姆斯一路招搖撞騙，羅織無數謊言，為什麼其它人還是相信他？要在短時間內之內改造芝加哥市、舉辦世界博覽會，除了工程和設計之外，還有更多「人」的因素、組織和團體介入的角力，為什麼建築師伯漢仍堅信他一定可以完成這項挑戰？一個是建築師、另一個是連續殺人魔，兩雙迷人藍眼睛背後都存在堅定的意志，因而具有特殊的魔力。 本書上市之後，創造了一些紀錄：除了獲得愛倫坡獎--最佳犯罪實錄之外，上市後在平裝版的排行榜上盤踞了兩年以上，它的暢銷也讓芝加哥建築協會(Chicago Architectural Foundation)也根據此書設計了行程（當然，我相信是著重在建築師故事那一塊）。這個匪夷所思的故事當然也逃不開好萊塢的注意，而引起另外兩雙藍眼睛的注目。據中央社報導，湯姆．克魯斯(Tom Cruise)和李奧納多．狄卡皮歐(Leonardo Dicaprio)都看上了這個故事，而各自著手籌拍。也讓人不由自主在閱讀時一面想像，到底是李奧納多比較適合扮演呢？或是強尼．戴普(Johnny Depp)？

作者介紹

作者介紹 ERIK LARSON is the author of four national bestsellers: In the Garden of Beasts, Thunderstruck, The Devil in the White City, and Isaac's Storm, which have collectively sold more than 5.5 million copies. His magazine stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's and other publications and his books have been published in fourteen countries.

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