MGPL Webrary® - World's Fair

World's Fair Books and More

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December 2008
Compiled by Molly Williams from contributions by the members of Fiction_L

(To use this list in your library, book club, etc., please include the following credit line: "Compiled by the subscribers of the Fiction_L mailing list." This list may not be used for commercial purposes.)

Mildred Walker Light From Arcturus (1935): Novel about a bored and restless Nebraska woman who "stepped beyond sacrifice and duty, impressed herself on a larger scene, fed her spirit, and grew in dignity. Grounded in memorable events, this novel illustrates the significance of the period's great world's fairs to the early settlers. The milestones in Julia's progress are trips to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 and to the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and in 1933.
Raylyn Moore What Happened to Emily Goode After the Great Exhibition ( 1978 ): Time displacement fantasy set at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. 188 pp.
Allen Appel Twice Upon A Time: A Novel ( 1988 ): In the Alex Balfour series. Alex, an historian, is transported back in time to the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, where he becomes involved with a group converging at Little Big Horn.
Catherine Hart Dazzled Romance: In 1876, as Philadelphia hosts its Centennial Exposition, the companion to a wealthy matron resorts to thievery in an effort to ransom her nephew from his vile father.
Mark Graham The Black Maria (Mystery of Old Philadelphia) (2000): As the whole world is celebrating a glorious future at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, city detective Wilton McCleary comes across the butchered body of a girl in the nearby labyrinth of festering streets called Shantyville, with its opium dens, criminals, and freak shows.
Lloyd Alexander The Philadelphia Adventure (1990): In 1876, on the eve of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, twenty-year- old Vesper Holly and her friends clash yet again with the archfiend Dr. Helvitius, whose evil schemes plunge them into danger in the wild Pennsylvania countryside.
Directed by Otto Preminger Centennial Summer (1946): In 1876 Philadelphia, two sisters vie for the affections of a Frenchman in town to prepare the French pavilion for the Centennial Exposition. Starred Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Walter Brennan.
Anthony Thorne So Long at the Fair (1947): On which the film was based.
Claude Izner Murder on the Eiffel Tower ( 2008 ): Crime fiction set in Paris in 1889, with the Paris Exposition as the scene. The Eiffel Tower is new, and people flock to see this technological wonder. While on such a visit, a young woman collapses and dies, apparently as the result of a bee sting, and bookseller Victor Legris becomes involved in the investigation of her murder.
Pablo de Santis The Paris Enigma ( 2008 ): Crime fiction, winner of the first Casa de las Americas prize for best Latin American novel. The "12 Detectives" meet for the first time in Paris, at the 1889 World's Fair, and soon have their own mystery to detect when Paris detective Louis Darbon falls to his death from the Eiffel Tower shortly before the fair's opening.
Barbara Robertson Rosemary in Paris (2001): Rosemary Rita's magical hourglass takes her to the Paris Exposition of 1889, where she meets her great-great-grandmother Gracie, also aged ten, and together with a friend they set out to catch the boy who steals Gracie's locket.
Mary Pope Osborne Night of the New Magicians (2006): In the Magic Treehouse series. Jack and Annie visit the Paris World's Fair of 1889 in an effort to protect four scientific pioneers from an evil sorcerer.; Thriller. Vicky Barton and her brother, Johnny, take a trip to the 1889 Paris Exhibition. They sleep in separate rooms in a hotel. When Vicky wakes up, she finds that her brother and his room have disappeared and no one will even acknowledge that he was ever there. Starring Jean Simmons, Dirk Bogarde, Cathleen Nesbitt, Honor Blackman and David Tomlinson.
Erik Larson The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (2003): Set around 1893 Chicago World's Fair, the stories of two men, one the architect responsible for the fair's construction, the other a serial killer masquerading as a doctor.
Marietta Holley Samantha at the World's Fair (1893): Account of the Chicago fair written in a fictional style with black-and-white illustrations. 475 pp.
Quondam (pseud.) The Adventures of Uncle Jeremiah and Family at the Great Fair (1893): Fictional account of the World's Columbian Exposition. With 4 photos. 237 pp.
Mildred Walker Light From Arcturus (1935): Novel about a bored and restless Nebraska woman who "stepped beyond sacrifice and duty, impressed herself on a larger scene, fed her spirit, and grew in dignity. Grounded in memorable events, this novel illustrates the significance of the period's great world's fairs to the early settlers. The milestones in Julia's progress are trips to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 and to the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and in 1933."
Robert Bloch American Gothic (1974): Thriller based on the murderous career of Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who stalked Chicago victims during the World"s Fair of 1893."
Edith Freund Chicago Girls (1985): A novel of Chicago in the time of the Columbian Exposition.
Allan W. Eckert The Scarlet Mansion (1985): Based on the life of Herman Mudgett, alias Dr. Henry Holmes, the notorious serial killer.
Donald K. Hartman Fairground Fiction: Detective Stories of the World's Columbian Exposition (1992): Contains reprints of Emma Murdoch Van Deventer's 'Against Odds' and John Harvey Whitson's 'Chicago Charlie, the Columbian detective.' 450 pp.
Alice Duncan Coming Up Roses (2002): Set at the Chicago World's Fair, featuring Rose Ellen Gilhooley and the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. First in the Meet Me at the Fair series.
Alice Duncan Just North of Bliss (2002): Historical romance. Causing scandal by accepting a position as a nanny, Belle Monroe contemplates further ruin by allowing a dashing stranger at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago to take her portrait, which leads to unexpected love and passion between the proper Southern beauty and the bold photographer from the North. Second in the Meet Me at the Fair series.
Alice Duncan A Bicycle Built for Two (2002): Historical romance. Kate Finney, a savvy fortune teller and hootchy-kootchy dancer at the Chicago World Fair who doesn't believe in love, finds her life forever changed by Alex English, a dashing city slicker who will stop at nothing to win her heart - forever. Third in the Meet Me at the Fair series.
Alec Michod The White City (2004): In 1893, as the glitter and glamour of the World's Fair commences in Chicago, 'The White City' is terrorized by a gruesome killer dubbed The Husker, a fear that escalates when the son of prominent architect William Rockland is abducted.
Robert W. Walker City for Ransom (2005): First in Inspector Alastair Ransom mysteries. As thousands flock to Chicago for the Great Exposition of 1893, a maniacal killer sets out to turn the streets into his own personal hunting ground, and it is up to Inspector Alastair Ransom to find the bloodthirsty murderer amid the glitter and turmoil of the World's Fair, before he becomes the next victim.
Carol Cox 'A Fair to Remember' Ticket to Tomorrow (2006), Fair Game (2007), and A Bride So Fair (2008): Slightly suspenseful Christian romances, all set at the 1893 Fair.
Lynn Austin A Proper Pursuit (2007): Christian fiction. Violet Hayes ventures to Chicago during the World's Fair in search of her mother, who has been missing from her life since she was nine.
Dorothy Hoobler, Thomas Hoobler, Carey Greenberg Summer of Dreams: The Story of a Worlds Fair Girl (1993): Set in 1893, the story follows preteen Cristina Ricci and her adventures at the Chicago Columbian Exposition, where she works as a guide to children visiting from other countries. (Grades 3-6).
JoAnn A. Grote Chicago World's Fair ( 1998 ): In the American adventure series, #29. Christian fiction. 144 pp.
Richard Peck Fair Weather (2001): In 1893, thirteen-year-old Rosie and members of her family travel from their Illinois farm to Chicago to visit Aunt Euterpe and attend the World's Columbian Exposition which, along with an encounter with Buffalo Bill and Lillian Russell, turns out to be a life-changing experience for everyone.
Laurie Lawlor Exploring the Chicago World's Fair, 1893 (2002): In the American Sisters series. Dora Pomeroy must keep watch over her sisters against the dazzling backdrop of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Robert Lawson The Great Wheel (2004): Conn Kilroy leaves his Irish village for work in America, first with a contracting company in New York and then to Chicago, where he and his uncle join a crew building what some called Ferris's Folly -- the first Ferris wheel and the showpiece of Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
Candice F. Ransom Magician in the Trunk (2007): In the Time Spies series. When Mattie, Sophie, and Alex travel back in time to the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, they decide to help Harry Houdini's failing magic show, but they find themselves in need of help when they are accused of stealing a priceless diamond.
Lauren Belfer City of Light (1999): Historical mystery set in Buffalo and Niagara Falls at the start of the 20th century, where hydroelectric power and the Pan-American Exposition promise new possibilities.
Jonathan Lowy The Temple of Music: A Novel (2004): Leon Czolgosz, an alienated factory worker and an ardent admirer of Emma Goldman, plots to assassinate President McKinley at the 1901 Buffalo World's Fair.
Sally Benson Meet Me in St. Louis (1942): On which the film of the same name was based. Originally serialized in the Saturday Evening Post. Tells the story of four sisters living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in 1904
Marcelo Vital and David Montgomery 1904 (2004): Graphic novel celebrating the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, also known as the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Combines adventure and historical fiction in a lavishly illustrated tale about a delivery boy who single-handedly saves the 1904 World's Fair.
Thomas L. Tedrow The World's Fair: The Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Book Five) (1992): Given the assignment to cover the St. Louis World's Fair, Laura and Manly decide to make a second honeymoon of it. Disgusted at what some people have made of the Games, Laura speaks up for some contestants who are being treated as side-show freaks, teaming up with Alice Roosevelt to stop the inhuman Anthropological Games. In the Thomas Nelson series, Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder. 223pp.
Jane Cutler The Song of the Molimo ( 1998 ): When twelve-year-old Harry comes from Kansas to visit the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, he befriends an African pygmy, Ota Benga, who is part of an anthropology exhibit, works for the first female news photographer, and becomes involved in a burgeoning scientific controversy.
Eleanora Tate The Minstrel's Melody (2001): In the American Girl history mysteries series. In 1904, twelve-year-old Orphelia follows her dream by running away from home to join an all-black minstrel show headed for the Saint Louis World's Fair, and learns about her family's troubled past in the process.
Directed by Vincente Minnelli Meet Me in St. Louis (1944): Starring Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Leon Ames, June Lockhart and Marjorie Main.
Mildred Walker Light From Arcturus (1935): Novel about a bored and restless Nebraska woman who "stepped beyond sacrifice and duty, impressed herself on a larger scene, fed her spirit, and grew in dignity. Grounded in memorable events, this novel illustrates the significance of the period's great world's fairs to the early settlers. The milestones in Julia's progress are trips to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 and to the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and in 1933."
Rob Levandoski Going to Chicago (1997): Bittersweet debut about a quixotic 1934 road trip to the Chicago World's Fair, recalled by a curmudgeonly retiree. 207 pp.
Carrie Brown The Hatbox Baby (2002): Set at 1933 Chicago World's Fair. "A Chicago woman goes into premature labor and delivers a tiny baby, barely alive. The father takes it to the fair (in a hatbox) to be cared for by a physician who has an exhibition of tiny preemies in primitive incubators. When the father is killed in a road accident, the baby becomes the focal point of a fan dancer; her brother, a dwarf; the doctor and his nurse; and the baby's aunt." (Library Journal).
by Max Allan Collins True Detective (2003): In the Frank Nitti Trilogy. Nate Heller is a cop trying to stay straight in one of the most corrupt places imaginable: Prohibition-era Chicago. Reviewers mention that the World's Fair 'comes alive' in this novel.
Clair Blank Beverly Gray at the World's Fair (1935): In the Beverly Gray College Mystery series. Beverly and her friends have graduated from college and are working in New York. Disappointed that she was not going to Paris to study with friends, Beverly and her remaining friends plan a month vacation at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago where they witness a murder when a diver is killed by an air gun at the fair. 250 pp. Very rare book because it was omitted when the AL Burt series was reprinted by Grosset (it was thought that the world's fair setting dated it).
Phoebe Atwood Taylor Murder At The New York World's Fair ( 1938 ): Written by Taylor under the pseudonym Freeman Dana, at the request of Bennett Cerf. 265 pp.
Kenneth Robeson World's Fair Goblin (1969): Doc Savage series #39. An eight-foot monster is haunting the 1939 New York World's Fair. What is the bizarre secret of Maximus, the 'World's Fair Goblin'? Republished 2008 with Czar of Fear in Doc Savage Reprint #17.
E. L. Doctorow World's Fair (1985): Fiction and reality meet within the 1930s Bronx childhood of Edgar, growing up through the intensity of the Depression and the hope of the New York World's Fair. 288 pp.
David Gelernter 1939: The Lost World of the Fair (1996): Historical fiction, romance, anti-modern political jeremiad. 418 pp.
Michael Chabon Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000): Includes descriptive scenes on the grounds of a New York World's Fair.
Bob Madison Tomorrow at the Fair (2005): Sci-fi? John Kenner, 12 years old, dreams of the future as seen in science fiction comics. When the 1939 World's Fair promises to create the World of Tomorrow, he and his grandfather run away from home and travel to New York, only to learn that anarchists plan to blow up the Trylon and Perisphere! 300 pp.
James Stevenson All Aboard! (1995): Hubie and his family take the Broadway Blazer to the 1939 World's Fair, but Hubie has a series of adventures by himself on the way there.
Rupert Holmes Swing: a novel (2005): Jazz musician Ray Sherwood, playing at the 1940 World Fair, becomes involved in the investigation into the death of a mysterious Frenchwoman, who had previously propositioned him.; Musical adventure film starring Elvis Presley. Two cropdusters, trying to earn money, hitchhike to the World's Fair in Seattle. While one tries to earn money playing poker, the other takes care of a small girl, Sue-Lin, whose father has disappeared.
Robert Silverberg World's Fair 1992 (1970): 1992 World's Fair in a satellite above Earth. Science fiction. The 1992 World's Fair was to be an orbital extravaganza, set in a gigantic satellite 50 000 miles above the Earth, and the young xenobiology student thought it would be a dream come true. 248 pp.



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