As a former journalist, I enjoy reading creative nonfiction books, especially by incredible journalists like Erik Larson. I’ve read many of Larson’s books, and the latest of these was In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin.
It was just as fascinating as it sounds.
In the Garden of Beasts takes place in the time period before World War II, when William E. Dodd became America’s first ambassador to Germany, where he and his family watched Hitler create Nazi Germany.
Here are three things I enjoyed most about this book:
- The history: It was fascinating getting to know this part of the history that you don’t hear about, and it reminded me that there are always stories running beneath the surface of things that we don’t even know about until someone shines a light on it all. Larson shone a very large light.
- The characterization: One of the reasons I love Larson is that he has a wonderful ability to characterize people based on research and letters. He talked about his process for putting these character studies together—he scoured diaries, newspaper articles, and other historic materials to bring the characters to life. I appreciate his thoroughness in creating a story that is believable, entertaining, and historically accurate.
- The reportage: I’ve always been drawn to true stories, and Larson has a knack for digging so deeply into something that he feels comfortable telling a true story that is good—no, more than good: riveting. He uses humor, shock, delight—every range of human emotion so the story comes alive. It was a wonderful book.
I’ve got a few more Larson books to read before his entire backlist has been consumed. I’m looking forward to diving into more.
The above is an affiliate link. I only recommend books that I personally enjoy. I actually don’t even talk about the books I don’t enjoy, because I’d rather forget I ever wasted time reading them. But if you’re ever curious whether I’ve read a book and whether I liked or disliked it, don’t hesitate to ask.
