That was more or less my issue. The serial killer bit - eh, whatever. Kind of remarkable that that particular case didn't seem to make it into the public consciousness like his contemporaries Jack the Ripper and Lizzie Borden, even in Chicago, but other than that? Boring.

The architecture and the city planning and the politics were unexpectedly fascinating. I wanted more as well, plus I read it over Thanksgiving, and I was really frustrated not having wikipedia at the ready. And as Chicago history goes in particular, it's amazing. Most of the reviews I've seen seemed to be coming from the opposite perspective though, which was puzzling.

I didn't feel that he really tied the two elements together in any but the most superficial ways. Disappointing.

I didn't feel that he really tied the two elements together in any but the most superficial ways.

That was my problem. There was the Columbian Exposition. There was a serial killer. They happened at the same time! I do read true crime, in limited doses, and the true crime story was badly told. You know there's something amiss when the choice of an architectural design is much more compelling than a murderer.

It was a long slow slog but I read it. I gather that the Columbian Exposition and events leading up to it provided him with more victims.

Yeah, there was that. And he touched on social changes going on that meant there were a lot of young women flocking to the city in a way that hadn't been typical before...touched repeatedly on it, but without ever really going any further than that. (And in fact, he kind of contradicts his own point on that, because it was by and large the families of these young women who drove the investigation.)

So...eh. It's frustrating because I felt like he was almost on to something, but not quite there.

OTOH, a book about architects and Chicago history on its own wouldn't have gotten nearly the play sans serial killer, so I guess that's a plus in its own way.

Remember: it also included the Titanic.

It's frustrating because I felt like he was almost on to something, but not quite there.

I felt this too, though I may have liked it a little more than you did. For some reason, the thing that made it more frustrating is that one of my very favorite non-fiction books ever A Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea is also a "split story", but a much more successful one, IMO.

(In case you missed it, that was a pimpage for A Ship of gold in the deep blue sea, which I think everyone everywhere should read.)

Lee! I didn't know anyone else ever read Ship of Gold. That's a great read, especially if, like me, you know a bit about the law around archaeology and salvage. Cool stuff.

Consuela! I should have guessed you would have read it.

I think I need to reread it soon.

On a similar subject, if you have an Atlantic Montly subscription (and if anyone does, let me know...) this is a marvelous article about a the sinking of the ferry Estonia in the early 90s. [link]

So much true crime is written by people who...kinda don't write very well. I suppose that's why "A Year On The Killing Streets" was such a revelation.