Reading can be a great way to abandon your own reality for another, if only for a short while. Unfortunately, it would seem that the vast majority limit this wonderful effect purely to works of fiction. While it is understandable that going on an adventure with Gandalf or a ride with Eragon and Saphira is infinitely more appealing than what is going on around you at points, it can be just as easy to get lost in a cleverly built work of non-fiction. Erik Larson is an author who knows how to write just such a work.
"With titles such as "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic", and "Madness at the Fair That Changed America," and "In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror" and "An American Family in Hitler's Berlin" attributed to him, he knows how to tell a tale about the making of a monster from the context of someone who is relatively unknown. Larson effectively gives his readers reasons to care about these people that may have never graced a high school history text book as more than a simple sentence. H. H. Holmes is the subject of documentaries and quirky supernatural television shows alike. The events surrounding Adolf Hitler's rise to power are surrounded by much the same, however while the film industry tends to tone down the level of sheer violence surrounding his ascent Erik Larson seems to have no such compunction.
The fluent combination of artistic storytelling and direct sources makes for a thrilling narrative of a time that most wold want to forget. It also throws into perspective just how horrific reality can be. A murder house constructed in the middle of Chicago and a family's time in Hitler's Berlin may not seem like a good escape from one's own reality, but they can provide the same sense of slow building terror that Stephen King and other authors are famous for. The realization that these are real events simply compounds the sense of gut wrenching horror. Taking a stroll down history's collective memory lane through books like those mentioned above can be both educational and thrilling.
This type of reading is not for everyone. For those that can't stomach a horror that truly belongs to someone else's reality, I would recommend treading cautiously when choosing a similar work as the aforementioned books. While Tolkien, Paolini, and their beloved characters will always have their place, sometimes it is nice to know that there were and are worse things out there than the reality that you face every day. Weather your poison of choice is fiction or nonfiction, have fun reading regardless.
