Erik Larson
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Larson Gives Historical Non-Fiction the Feel of a Novel
Erik Larson is an American journalist who has turned to historical non-fiction. He is a former features writer for The Wall Street Journal and Time magazine, to which he still contributes. His work has also appeared in The Atlantic Monthly and Harper's.
Before he wrote the best-selling Isaac's Storm he wrote The Naked Consumer and Lethal Passage. His two books following Isaac's Storm, The Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck, are set in the same period of the turn from the 19th to the 20th century. Both books pair a murderer with a famous person, although they never actually met. The parallel stories in each book are told in alternating chapters in a novelistic way although everything is based on Larson's solid research. At first glance, the pairings may seem unusual, even contrived, but Larson makes the books work, giving readers a detailed feel for the settings in time and place.
Before he wrote the best-selling Isaac's Storm he wrote The Naked Consumer and Lethal Passage. His two books following Isaac's Storm, The Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck, are set in the same period of the turn from the 19th to the 20th century. Both books pair a murderer with a famous person, although they never actually met. The parallel stories in each book are told in alternating chapters in a novelistic way although everything is based on Larson's solid research. At first glance, the pairings may seem unusual, even contrived, but Larson makes the books work, giving readers a detailed feel for the settings in time and place.
Isaac's Storm
A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
On September 8, 1900 a powerful hurricane struck Galveston, Texas, destroying much of the city and killing between 6,000 and 10,000 people. Prior to the storm, Galveston was being called "the New York of the Gulf," rivaling New Orleans and nearby Houston. When the storm struck, there was no seawall. Everything near the beachfront was either reduced to rubble or swept away completely. Over one hundred years later, the storm remains the deadliest natural disaster in American history. (In spite of the assertion of the subtitle, single hurricanes have killed more people in areas outside the United States.)The story of the city and the storm is told largely from the viewpoint of Isaac Cline, the brilliant and hard-working head of the US Weather Bureau office in Galveston. In addition to following Cline's career with the Weather Bureau, the book also tells of the bureau's obsession with controlling information about hurricanes which led to the storm striking the Texas coast with virtually no warning. Cline himself thought Galveston would never be hit by a storm that would do much damage in spite of the fact that most of the city lay only a few feet above sea level, completely open to the Gulf on one side and Galveston Bay on the other.
A few days after the one hundred and eighth anniversary of the deadly storm, another powerful hurricane struck Galveston. This time there was a 17-foot seawall protecting the city and plenty of advance warning and evacuation. There was destruction, power loss, and disruption of services, but instead of thousands of deaths, there were only 50 in Galveston and the rest of Texas. The modern storm bore the nickname for those named Isaac: Ike.
Order Isaac's Storm from Amazon.com
Order Isaac's Storm from Amazon.co.uk
Thunderstruck
Marconi and the Murderer
As he did in "The Devil in the White City," Larson again combines a tale of murder and a world-famous event. The murderer is Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen of London, who flees the city with his unsuspecting lover to Quebec, pursued by a Scotland Yard detective. HIs tale alternates with that of Guglielmo Marconi, who made the first wireless transatlantic broadcast. What brings the stories together is how wireless communication aided the pursuit of Crippen and kept the world informed of its progress.Order Thunderstruck from Amazon.com
Order Thunderstruck from Amazon.co.uk
The Devil in the White City
Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
The stories of two men, architect Daniel H. Burnham and serial murderer H. H. Holmes, are combined in a story revolving around the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Burnham was responsible for constructing the "White City" around which the fair was built. Holmes, masquerading as a charming doctor, constructed the World's Fair Hotel near the fairgrounds, complete with gas chamber and crematorium. It is believed he killed between 27 and 200 people, mostly single young women.Order The Devil in the White City from Amazon.com
Order The Devil in the White City from Amazon.co.uk
Lethal Passage
The Story of a Gun
The gun in question is a Cobray M-11/9 used by 16-year-old Nicholas Elliot who walked into his Virginia high school one day in December 1988, killed one teacher and wounded another. Larson uses the story to illustrate America's gun culture and offer concrete solutions for the epidemic of deaths by firearm.Order Lethal Passage from Amazon.com
Order Lethal Passage from Amazon.co.uk
The Naked Consumer
How Our Private Lives Become Public Commodities
In this 1992 exposé, Larson explores the world of consumer research, consumer espionage, polling and its effects on the American public. He charges that companies, instead of developing better goods and services, concentrate on manipulative and invasive marketing and research. Larson contends we need to control information through legislation to avoid critical erosion of our civil liberties.Order The Naked Consumer from Amazon.com
Order The Naked Consumer from Amazon.co.uk
Share Your Thoughts about Erik Larson
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susannaduffy
Jun 27, 2009 @ 2:15 am | delete
- We have the same bookshelves at home I think - top class from you as always
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