The Elusive Erik Larson

by Virginia Tunnell

written for Literary Nonfiction, ETSU, Fall 2004

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About the author:  Virginia Tunnell is a senior at East Tennessee State University.  She will graduate in May 2005 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English.  She hopes to attend graduate school and pursue a career in teaching.  Virginia worked as a reporter for the East Tennessean and has written numerous essays, articles, short stories, and poems.  Her interests include snowboarding, hiking, reading, and bartending.  Her long-term goal is to create a rock-and-roll magazine that will someday put The Rolling Stone out of circulation, but until then she will continue waiting tables at Logan’s Roadhouse.

 

“Erik Larson, author of the international best-seller, Isaac’s Storm, [1999] has written for Harper’s, The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Time Magazine, where he is a contributing writer.  He is a former staff writer for The Wall Street Journal.  He lives in Seattle with his wife, three daughters, and assorted pets, including a dog named Molly.”

 

So reads the “About the Author” page in Larson’s best-seller, The Devil in the White City (2003).  It is a nice little paragraph and all, but it would be mistaken for an obituary if it weren’t in the present tense.  Surely there has to be more to know about Erik Larson, the author of two best-selling books, than just his resume.  How does he write?  Where does he get his inspiration?  Why the attraction to Isaac Cline, a deceased meteorologist?  Why the fascination with the World’s Fair of 1893?  Just what kind of dog is Molly?  Well, it turns out that those questions are easier asked than answered.  While there are several “About the Author” blurbs, there are few in-depth writings that really explore the soul of the elusive Erik Larson.  So that leaves only the next best thing: his own writing.  Though Larson’s works are typically non-fiction, they definitely have a voice.  And this voice whispers to the reader ever so softly little secrets about the author.

            Erik Larson grew up in Freeport, a suburb on Long Island, in the mid-20th century.  He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976 and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in 1978.  Larson then worked for several magazines and newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, before teaching non-fiction writing at San Francisco State University.  He has written four non-fiction books:  The Naked Consumer (1992), Lethal Passage (1994), Isaac’s Storm (1999), and The Devil in the White City (2003).  Larson has spoken at several writing seminars and still contributes to Time Magazine.  (“About the Author”)

            Still, what does all this mean?  It is a great resume, but it doesn’t say anything about Larson’s life or personality.  The real biography is in Larson’s writing, where he ever so subtly hints at details from his own life.

            Isaac’s Storm was Larson’s first big hit.  This story is about a meteorologist, Isaac Cline, who comes to terms with his own arrogance and shortcomings during the greatest hurricane in U.S. history.  The 1900 Hurricane in Galveston, Texas, claimed the lives of 6,000 people.  The town was totally destroyed.  Larson uses Cline’s journals, weather forecasts, telegrams, and survivors’ testimonies to recreate Isaac Cline’s time and place.  The amazing thing about this book is Larson’s ability to make the storm intriguing.  Suddenly, quite dull things like barometric pressure and latitude and longitude become fascinating.  He writes, “The vortex gained definition.  Rivers of air flowed toward its center.  The earth’s rotation drove them to the right, but each right-veering gust imparted to the vortex a left-hand spin, just as a glancing blow on the right side of a cue ball will cause it to spin left,” (Isaac’s Storm, 56).  It seems that Larson’s true talent is breathing new life into long forgotten stories.

            Isaac’s Storm didn’t just spring from Larson’s head.  It was almost an autobiography.  Larson grew up during one of the worst hurricane seasons on record. In an interview about the release of the book, Larson says,

I grew up on Long Island, fearing and adoring hurricanes.  The fear came from the fact that I lived in a glass house surrounded by some wonderful old trees.  I didn’t want the house to get broken, I didn’t want my climbing trees to fall.  I loved the anticipation—like the best horror movies, when bad things lurk unseen in the dark.  (“About the Author”)

Larson also confesses to having an obsession with swimming in the sea before and after hurricanes.  Dangerous?  Yes.  Crazy?  Maybe.  Beneficial?  Definitely.  Larson’s passion for storms led him to Isaac Cline, which in turn led to his publication of a best-selling book.  It turns out that Larson’s self-confessed obsession with thunderstorms, fog, and wind paid off for him in the end.  (“About the Author”)

            What else does Larson have in common with his freshly resurrected character Isaac Cline?  Coincidentally, both men were fathers to three daughters.  Larson identifies with Isaac in this regard because they share the same role as a father, a role that transcends time and place.  Larson says, “I came to his story as a parent, wondering how he [Cline] and so many other mothers and fathers in Galveston felt as the wind and sea rose and made death seem inevitable,” (“About the Author”).  Larson also says that he was attracted to Isaac’s confidence, his most over-bearing and tragic characteristic.

            The Devil in the White City (2003), Larson’s most popular book, tells the story of two men:  Daniel Burnham, an architect, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer.  Larson sets the stage in late 19th century Chicago.  He describes Burnham’s quest to build the impossible: the grounds for the World’s Columbian Exposition.  At the same time, Larson describes Holmes’ dark fascination with murder.  Larson brilliantly combines the two tales into a gripping page-turner.  The mortar between the bricks of this tale is the mention of factual elements that define the era.  Larson notes the many novelties that fairgoers encountered.  He writes,

They saw even more ungodly things—the first zipper; the first-ever all-electric kitchen, which included an automatic dishwasher; and a box purporting to contain everything a cook would need to make pancakes, under the brand name Aunt Jemima’s.  They sampled a new, oddly flavored gum called Juicy Fruit, and caramel-coated popcorn called Cracker Jack. (Devil in the White City, 247)

These details help Larson paint a more detailed picture of a time alien to the readers of the 21st century.

            Speaking of aliens, it was a book called The Alienist, by Caleb Carr, that inspired Larson to write The Devil in the White City.  In an interview with Robert Birnbaum, Larson says, “What I loved about it [The Alienist] was this evocation of old New York. And I thought at the time it would be interesting to try to do a non-fiction book about a historical murder and see if I could produce some of the same effects,” (Birnbaum).  Larson said that at first he despised the idea of writing about Holmes.  Holmes seemed too sadistic for Larson’s tastes.  He says, “There is something about Holmes that at the time struck me as being like murder porn. I just didn't want to do it. I wanted something that had character and charisma and so I continued looking for other murders that might be worthwhile,” (Birnbaum).  If the antagonist half of the story almost didn’t happen, but what about the protagonist half?

            Larson says that he wouldn’t have written a book simply about the World’s Fair, either.  He says, “I didn't know anything about it. I knew there had been a major World's Fair in there somewhere. But I didn't know the details,” (Birnbaum).  As separate entities, these stories would have never come full circle for Larson.  He says,

And, in fact, I would not have been interested in just doing a book about the Fair. Nor would I have been interested in doing a book just about Holmes. But together they made a sort of unity. That I found kind of magical.  I never doubted that they went together. The question was ultimately doing the research and then seeing how they would fit together. Literally, the fates of both guys were linked by this event. (Birnbaum). 

It seemed that it was Larson’s fate to find that link and revive it for modern readers.

            Like Isaac’s Storm, The Devil in the White City deals with a generally boring topic.  Larson made meteorology exciting; certainly he could do the same thing with architecture, right?  Right.  Larson describes endless specifics about Burnham’s designs and Olmsted’s landscapes.  But by giving these details faces, Burnham and Olmsted, Larson achieves his goal of getting the reader to care.   Once again, Larson’s talent of resurrecting forgotten people and events comes to light.  What was once just a 19th century convicted serial killer on tattered paper comes to life again in the 21st century.  And it seems as if the White City rises out of the ashes once again for a few more glory days.

            Finally, the big question lurking in everyone’s mind:  Just what kind of dog is Molly?  She’s a golden retriever.  In the dedication to The Devil in the White City, Larson writes, “And to Molly, whose lust for socks kept us all on our toes.”  Later, in the Acknowledgements, he writes, “My dog showed me that nothing matters but dinner.”  Larson also has three guinea pigs and a goldfish named Joey.  It turns out that Larson is not only a master of recreating the past, he is also an animal lover.  (“About the Author”)

            Now, back to that opening “About the Author” paragraph.  Is it really that irrelevant?  No, it turns out that those tidbits of personal information do have a lot to do with Larson’s personal life.  From his writings, readers might expect to learn that Larson is a historian.  In fact, Larson is a journalist and a writer.  He only dabbles in history.  Plus, the fact that he lives in Seattle now comes into a new light.  Larson is a big fan of storms and bad weather.  It only seems logical that he lives in the rainiest city in America.  Finally, Larson, being a father of three daughters, was able to empathize more with Isaac Cline.

            A century away from the stories he recreates, Larson lives a simple but interesting life.  Nowadays, it seems that movie stars and rappers get all the glory, while important writers like Erik Larson are left in the shadows.  Does Larson choose to be left out of the spotlight, or does society choose to eliminate authors from the glitter and gold of Entertainment Tonight?  Who knows?  One thing is for sure, though.  While students today read about the lives of Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway, students of tomorrow will be reading about Erik Larson and his dog

Molly.

 

 

The Elusive Erik Larson

 

Annotated Bibliography

 

Birnbaum, Robert.  “Identity Theory:  Erik Larson.”  2003. 

 

<http://www.identitytheory.com/interviews/birnbaum95.html.>  14 October 2004.

 

This article consists of an interview of Larson conducted by Robert Birnbaum.  Birnbaum has interviewed hundreds of contemporary authors.  Topics discussed are Larson’s influences, writing processes, The Devil in the White City, and the character connections between Burnham and Holmes.  Very interesting information on how Larson first discovered the idea for The Devil in the White City.

 

Larson, Erik.  The Devil in the White City:  Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that

 

Changed America.  New York:  Crown Publishers, 2003.

 

Larson’s most popular book, and the first to capture my interests.  Very powerful tale of two men and how their fates connect them.

 

Larson, Erik.  Isaac’s Storm:  A Man, A Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History. 

 

New York:  Vintage Books, 1999.

 

Larson’s first big hit.  Very interesting tale of Isaac Cline and his life.  An amazing and surprisingly interesting story of a devastating meteorological phenomenon.

 

“About the Author:  Erik Larson.” 1999. 

 

<http://www.randomhouse.com/features/isaacsstorm/book/author.html.>  14

 

 October 2004.

 

This was the first article I read when I began my research on Erik Larson.  I thought it was very helpful as far as background information goes.  It really captured my attention, both to Larson’s personal life and Isaac’s Storm.  Topics discussed are Larson’s life, the release of Isaac’s Storm, and the present day condition of Galveston, Texas, 100 years after the worst hurricane in history.