Audiobook Club–Let’s do this!

By way of introducing our second book club pick, The Devil in the White City, I thought I’d begin with a quick lesson in Book Proposal Writing 101. Most good proposals contain a comparative title list in which you identify other (successful) books that are similar to yours in subject matter or tone. For the sake of credibility (and modesty!), be realistic in your comparisons by avoiding obvious genre standouts—if you’ve written a legal thriller, don’t compare yourself to John Grisham. Your poppy business book won’t necessarily be the next Freakonomics, and not every spiritual memoir is the next Eat, Pray, Love.

I mention these pratfalls because I can’t think of a popular history title that’s been overused as a comparison in book pitches more than The Devil in the White City. Erik Larson has devised a structure that just about every aspiring historian wants to emulate, one which the New York Times says, “relentlessly fuses history and entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a novel.”

The winning formula? Take the story of the ambitious architect who oversaw the construction of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, an event that foretold the emergence of America as a cultural force and innovator in the coming century. Then spice up the plot by interweaving into the mix the sordid tale of the original real life American psycho—a serial killer named HH Holmes who devised extravagant methods in which to prey on World’s Fair visitors. The result? A history/true crime narrative with thrills, chills, and wide ranging appeal.

Given that Devil’s inventive structure has been crucial to its critical and commercial success, I’d like to start off our book club discussion by getting your take on how the structure affects your understanding of the book. Do you find that Devil is more readable/listenable than a typical history book? Or does the author’s use of novelistic plot devices in any way diminish his cred as a historian? Do the intertwining narratives totally draw you in, or do they ever feel unnaturally forced together?

I’m going to avoid going into further specifics until everyone has had a chance to get their listening underway (early next week?), but in the meantime here are a few more general questions to contemplate as you start in on the book.
1. The light vs. dark motif in Devil kinda hits you from all angles, starting with the book title and cover art and winding throughout the text. Even as we follow architect Daniel Burnham’s progress in creating the brilliant spectacle of the Fair’s dazzling White City, Larson also reminds us of the poverty and filth that permeated so much of Chicago at the time–personified in the darkly devious form of HH Holmes. What might this contrast signify about America’s technological advancement at the turn of the twentieth century? Does it foreshadow any evils to come?

2. Given that the chapters alternate between Daniel Burnham’s sections and HH Holmes’s, the juxtaposition of the two men pretty much begs us to compare them. It’s rather easy to list the ways in which they’re different. But how are the two men similar? It seems unlikely that the two ever met, but what would they have made of each other if they had?

And now for a couple of audiobook-related questions:
1. If you hadn’t noticed from the succinct 6 hour running time for this 400 page book, we’re listening to an abridged edition of The Devil in the White City. Can you tell? I’ve been paging through the paperback as I’ve been listening and as far as I can tell some fat has been trimmed, but I think the spirit of the book remains intact. Do you agree? Does the story feel at all choppy to you, like we’re missing any important plot segments?

2. What do you think about Tony Goldwyn’s narration? Compared to other audiobook narrators, Goldwyn tends to keep his performance on the low key side. If his presentation lacks a certain amount of theatricality, I found Goldwyn’s restraint to be a refreshing change of pace. Or do I have it all wrong? Does this story call for more dramatic flair?