Today’s post is on Midnight
in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. It is 386 pages long and is
published by Random House. The cover is dark green with statue of young woman
with two bowls in her hands. The intended reader is someone who is interested
in true crime and Savannah, Georgia. There is
foul language, sex, sexuality, and violence in this book. The story is told
from the first person close of the author. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the back of the book-
A sublime and seductive reading experience. Brilliantly conceived and
masterfully written, this enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling
Southern city has become a modern classic.
Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.
It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.
Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.
It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.
Review- It is really an
interesting and seductive reading experience. I was charmed by the author, the
other players, and Savannah itself. The story starts very slowly, with Berendt
talking about New York culture and what drove him to start traveling around the
country. He discovers Savannah and is taken in by the city. He meets the very different
kinds of people that call Savannah home and we get to see some of them too
through Berendt’s eyes. When the crime happens, Berendt does his best to give
the reader the best view of what happened. Then we get into the Four trails for
the crime and at the end of everything, I still do not know if it was murder or
self-defense. I think that is very accurate to the crime itself, no one is
really sure what happened. If you are interested in true crime, then you should
give this book a try.
I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get
nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
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