My non-fiction reading list isn’t filled with what you’d call rigorous scholarship. It might be, but the authors generally have the decency to hide it under engaging writing.
What do architects and America’s first serial killer have to do with each other? They all found their turning points at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Erik Larson (not Erik Larsen) tells their stories in the fascinating The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. As architect Daniel H. Burnham tries to bring prestige to his chosen profession and the Second City, Henry H. Holmes uses the brouhaha surrounding the Fair to find victims. The stories don’t intersect perfectly, but each is interesting enough to sustain its own book. (Holmes was also the subject of an original graphic novel in the Treasury of Victorian Murder series by Rick Geary. I haven’t read it, but I’ve heard good things about the series.)
Armchair travelers get to go around the world and back in time in Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before, by Tony Horowitz. The author retraces Cook’s explorations and their impact, which was often devastating for indigenous cultures of the South Pacific. Horowitz has a balanced view of Cook’s legacy, mixing admiration for the man’s vision, wonder at the contributions to science and society, and horror at the destructive consequences of some of his stops along the way. Civil War buffs might enjoy Horowitz’s Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War. I got pretty impatient with it by the end, particularly with Horowitz’s boy-crush on re-enactor Robert Lee Hodge.
I love Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil for a couple of reasons. One, it was one of the first gifts I received from my significant other. Two, it’s beautifully written. Author John Berendt combines travelogue, social commentary, and a murder mystery to wonderful effect as he succumbs to the charms of Savannah, Georgia. It got turned into a blandly awful movie by Clint Eastwood (what is it with him and books I enjoy?), but save yourself the time and grief and enjoy the story in its original form. I don’t care how much of a crush you have on John Cusack. There’s no point in being a completist if it’s only going to cause you pain.
From the Book Week News Desk, today will bring announcement of this year’s National Book Awards. Which Manhattanite will take the fiction award? Will the entire 9/11 Commission take the stage if they win the non-fiction category? Can you stand the suspense?