Erik Larson (author)

This page is about the non-fiction author. For the comic book writer, see Erik Larsen; for the
Disney animator, see Eric Larson.

Erik Larson (born January 3, 1954) is an American journalist and author of
nonfiction books. He has written a number of bestsellers,

[1]

such as The Devil in the

White City (2003), about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and a
series of murders by H. H. Holmes that were committed in the city around the time
of the Fair; The Devil in the White City also won the 2004 Edgar Award in the Best
Fact Crime category, among other awards.

Early life and education

Writing career

Books
Teaching and public speaking

Personal life

Bibliography

References

External links

Larson was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Freeport, Long Island, New York.

[2]

He studied Russian history at the University of

Pennsylvania and graduated summa cum laude in 1976. After a year off, he attended the Columbia University Graduate School of
Journalism, graduating in 1978.

[2][3]

He was inspired to go into journalism after seeing the movie

All the President's Men.

[4]

Larson's first newspaper job was with the Bucks County Courier Times in Levittown, Pennsylvania, where he wrote about murder,
witches, environmental poisons, and other "equally pleasant" things. He later became a features writer for The Wall Street Journal
and Time magazine, where he is still a contributing writer. His magazine stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic
Monthly, Harper's, and other publications.

[4]

Larson has written a number of books, mostly historical nonfiction. In a 2016 interview with the Knoxville Mercury, Larson stated he
does all of his own research, asking, "why should I let anybody else have that fun?" He also rejected the idea of trying to imagine or
take factual liberties with scenes and conversations from the past, stating that in his work, "anything that appears in quote is
something that came from a historical document." He included among his literary inspirations David McCullough, Barbara Tuchman,
David Halberstam, and Walter Lord.

[4]

Larson's 2006 book Thunderstruck intersperses the story of Hawley Harvey Crippen with that

of Guglielmo Marconi and the invention of radio.

[5]

Erik Larson (2007)

Contents

Early life and education

Writing career

Books

Larson has taught non-fiction writing at San Francisco State University, the Johns
Hopkins Writing Seminars, and the University of Oregon, and he has spoken to
audiences across the United States.

Larson has lived in Philadelphia; Bristol, Pennsylvania; San Francisco; and Baltimore. He and his wife have three daughters. They
reside in New York City and maintain a home in Seattle, Washington.

[3]

The Naked Consumer: How Our Private Lives Become Public Commodities

. H. Holt. 1992. ISBN 0805017550.

Lethal Passage: How the Travels of a Single Handgun Expose the Roots of America's Gun Crisis

. Crown Publishers.

1994. ISBN 0517596776.
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History. Random House. 1999. ISBN 0-609-60233-0.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. Crown Publishers.
2002. ISBN 0-609-60844-4.
Thunderstruck. Crown Publishers. 2006. ISBN 9781400080663.
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin. Crown Publishers. 2011.
ISBN 9780307408846.
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. Crown Publishers. 2015. ISBN 9780307408860.

1.

"Erik Larson: Best-selling Author of In the Garden of Beasts" (http://eriklarsonbooks.com/the-books/)

. Erik Larson:

The Books. Retrieved May 25, 2012.

2.

"Erik Larson, 2003 National Book Award Finalist: Nonfiction, The National Book Foundation" (http://www.nationalboo
k.org/nba2003_elarson.html)

. NationalBook.org. 2003. Retrieved May 25, 2012.

3.

"About The Author - Erik Larson : Best-selling Author of In the Garden of Beasts"

(http://eriklarsonbooks.com/about-t

he-author/)

. ErickLarsonbooks.com. Retrieved May 25, 2012.

4. Everett, Matthew. "

Q&A: Author Erik Larson (http://www.knoxmercury.com/2016/03/17/qa-author-erik-larson/)

."

Knoxville Mercury, 16 March 2016.

5. Baker, Kevin (2006-11-05).

"Thunderstruck. By Erik Larson - Books - Review" (https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/

books/review/Baker.t.html)

. The New York Times.

ISSN

0362-4331 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331)

.

Retrieved 2018-02-21.

Official website
Interview at Identity Theory
Interview on The Devil in the White City, Booknotes, 14 September 2003
Interview with Larson about In the Garden of the Beasts on NPR's Fresh Air (May 9, 2011)
Appearances on C-SPAN

C-SPAN Q&A interview with Larson about In the Garden of the Beasts, July 17, 2011

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Erik Larson talks about In The
Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and
An American Family in Hitler's Berlin
on Bookbits radio.

0:00

Teaching and public speaking

Personal life

Bibliography

References

External links

Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.