Discussion date: October 9 2006

What we thought:

We all gleaned a lot of fascinating information from this book -- about the events and influences of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. The general agreement was that the husbands who had read it were more enthusiastic than the wives, who were looking for a bit more human interest. We wanted more on the personalities and relationships of these wheeler-dealers and high achievers than the author provided. Even the mystery lovers in the group were somewhat disappointed in the parts dealing with the "devil" character, which weren't as compelling as we expected. Some people had more trouble staying with the narrative than others (especially our British readers, who perhaps had less to relate to in the history). Still, most in the group rated the book 4 or 4 1/2 stars, with a few people rating it lower because it failed to hold their interest.

Reading Group Guide