PR Chicago

Erik Larson: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
If you build it, they will come. In this riveting true story of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, Daniel Burnham, a leading architect of his day, leads the way as a fantastic white city is built in an amazingly short span of time. In a parallel story line, we meet serial killer and con man H.H. Holmes as he lures young women to their deaths. It's a PR cautionary tale, to be sure, as the pressure's on to attract more visitors than the previous Paris World's Fair. It's touch and go, even with a gargantuan Ferris wheel. Toward the end of the World's Fair run, though, a series of themed events brings the tourists to the fair in droves.