Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

click here for more details, find new or used items	John Berendt Used from £0.01 Pages: 392 (Paperback) ISBN: 0099276852 Pub: Vintage Pub date: 1998-04-02 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 108385

Reader Reviews:

Quirky, Lurid, Vivid, and Thoughtful (1/1 people found this helpful)

Apparently, this book has been so influential that it has significantly increased the tourist traffic through Savannah. After reading it, it is easy to understand why - even I found myself itching with the urge to visit the place at some point, if for no other reason than to see if half the stories told about it were true.

Part travelogue, part true-crime thriller - with copious supernatural elements also thrown into the mix - the book defies simple description, and the author uses precise, non-sensational, almost diffident language to describe a superabundance of eccentric, larger-than-life characters and bizarre and mannered social rituals.

The story has, as its loose focus, the relationship between local millionaire Jim Williams and his handyman/lover, Danny - a relationship that ends in Williams shooting the younger man dead. Was it murder, or self-defence? Berendt does not pretend to offer any answers, instead settling for telling the few facts that he can actually attest to (and, added to which, of course, is a good dollop of the entertaining hearsay of the Savannah-ites he meets), and leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions.

Trial and retrial follow on, and behind the courtroom scenes one senses a world of political manoeuvring, old enemies, and the genteel but ultra-conservative morality of the Old South. Williams, enigmatic and cunning on one hand (he privately discusses deliberately changing his testimony with the author before a meeting with his lawyer), on the other possessing a deeply gullible streak (he plays Psychic Dice and engages a voodoo priestess to assist at his trial) is a compelling character, who has been known to hang Nazi banners from his window ledge to foil rude film-makers attempting to shoot Civil War movies in his neighbourhood. His lover, Danny, the beautiful hustler with an emotional age of nine, is hardly any less eccentric, growing sulky and violent when women he has only just met refuse his offers of marriage.

But it is also the story of the city itself, and its inhabitants take centre stage. Inhabitants such as the charming but amoral entrepreneurial neighbour who runs a constant gamut of lawsuits for passing bad checks and failing to pay his bills, (and who we first meet when an aggrieved elderly woman throws a brick through his window), and the bawdy, wonderful Lady Chablis, transsexual entertainer, who crashes the black Debutantes' Ball when the author rashly refuses to take her as his date. The verismultitude of characters is striking, and they are wonderfully, sharply drawn.

The title, "Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil", refers to the graveyard where the voodoo priestess conjures the spirits of the dead to beg their assistance in Williams' case (and also to nag her dead lover/voodoo mentor for winning lottery numbers). This balance of the poignant and the hilarious, the tragic and the comic, is what characterises this story and what ultimately makes it such an enjoyable, and yet haunting read.

An amazing book that's hard to put down. (0/0 people found this helpful)

This book just creeps up on you and leaves you gasping with wonder. It's a travel book and a murder mystery all in one and soooo much better than the film. I lent this to my father and he had read it within two days. He gave it back with the words "I want to go to Savannah and meet these people". You will feel the same way. Buy it, read it, lend it to someone else and spend many happy hours discussing Williams' guilt or innocence. A brilliant read.

a rivetting read (0/0 people found this helpful)

I just thought that the book was really entertaining and well written - it made you want to hop on a plane to Savannah to meet all those people. I bought it on a whim having never heard of it before, and I'm really pleased that I did.

Nonfiction? Are you sure?!? (0/0 people found this helpful)

This was one of the few books that I haven't been able to put down. The author paints a picturesque scene where everyone knows everyone else, and each person has some sort of skeletons in his closet. The eccentric character list creates an eclectic community. From the pompous Adlers, to the drag queen The Lady Chablis, each has his own little nautch in the tightly nit community of Savannah. After reading the book, I still can't believe this collection of personal stories and folklore entangled into a murder story can be nonfiction. This definitely should be one book to withstand the ages!

More than just a murder... (1/1 people found this helpful)

It's easy to understand why so many readers thought John Berendt's book was pure fiction on its first publication. Populated by bizarre, eccentric characters and featuring extraordinary plots, it reads like a rip-roaring novel. But Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is fact. Centred on a murder case involving a rich antiques dealer, Jim Williams, and a young hustler, the book is much more than just a blow by blow account of the killing and the legal manouvres that followed it. Instead this is the story of the Georgian city of Savannah and its remarkable residents - an outrageous drag queen, an insect-obsessed man with a craving for poison, a slave to voodoo, society dames and charming conmen are just some on show here. Some are likeable, others objectionable - particularly the rich, powerful and manipulative. It all adds up to a compelling account of life in this, on the surface, genteel place. It is a cliche that a book is impossible to put down but in the case of Berendt's remarkable work, it's certainly true.

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