I'm still on the nonfiction kick. This book interweaves two true stories: that of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago -- the preparation and the Fair itself -- with the story of a serial killer who lured young women to untimely ends in the years surrounding the Fair. Frankly, I could have done without the serial killer bit; it's interesting and the sensationalism probably draws readers who wouldn't have otherwise picked up the book. But the World's Fair story eclipses it. The obstacles and accomplishments are amazing, stranger than fiction; the characters are larger-than-life, and scrappy little Chicago (or not so little; it was the 2nd largest US city at the time) is the best character of all. It makes me wish I was alive in the 1890s -- there was so much going on.

My only complaint is that Larson, for the sake of an exciting and 'novelistic' tone, delves into speculation and imagination a little more often than I would like. He explains his reasoning in the notes at the end, and thoroughly documents all his sources, but still, I don't like the seamless blend of known facts and imagined events, no matter how reasonable it is to imagine them.