Erik Larson, master of narrative nonfiction, visits SCADshow
On Thursday night, the auditorium of SCADshow was filled with people of various ages, all holding their copies of Erik Larson’s latest book, “Dead Wake,” on their laps. They flipped through their fresh hardbacks, the scent of previously unopened pages fanning their faces and filling the room. An older man with graying hair and an upright physique walked across the stage greeted by excited applause. He looked calm as he took hold of a microphone and thanked everyone for coming.
This man, Erik Larson, has been known for his intriguing style of nonfiction writing since the publishing of “Isaac’s Storm” in 1999. Some people think his books are historical fiction, being that they take place in historical time settings and are about seemingly fictional events and characters. But the brilliance of Larson’s writing is that it is all nonfiction. Larson writes in a narrative style on history that many people today are not familiar with, like the serial killings at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (“The Devil in the White City”) and the rise of Nazi Germany through the eyes of the American ambassador’s family (“In the Garden of Beasts”).
Larson stood in a relaxed position as he leaned against a glass podium telling the audience how he went about writing his latest book “Dead Wake,” which covers the last crossing of the Lusitania. He explained that, like with his previous books, he came across a subject regarding facts he thought he knew but soon realized there was more to the story. The ship’s sinking is commonly known as the cause of America’s entering the First World War. Larson asked how long we thought it was between the sinking of the Lusitania to America’s declaration of war. Two days to two weeks perhaps? Not even close — two years fill the gap between the ship’s sinking and America’s involvement in the war. That was our little taste of the interesting facts contained in Larson’s book.
The publishing of “Dead Wake” in the spring of 2015 is timely being that it’s the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania. Larson said he doesn’t know what he’ll be writing next, but whatever it is, it’s sure to be another exciting moment in history that includes fascinating subjects and events overlooked by the mass public.
