I had such a hard time getting into this book, but luckily I'm reading this for a book discussion so I was forced to muddle through it. I didn't care about the background of the fair and how it got built, but once it opened the descriptions of the fair were truly breathtaking and I found myself despondent that I could never see the fair in all its glory. The author did a great job of transitioning between the two stories of Burnham's Columbian Exposition and Holmes' macabre hotel, but I would have preferred more Holmes and a little less Burnham (and a whole lot less Olmstead).