Name: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Rating: 3.753125 (160 reviews)
ISBN: 9780679751526

John Berendt

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

A Savannah Story

My mom had this book on display when I was a kid and I finally decided to read it. Honestly it was one of the most detailed books I’ve read that kept my engaged. I want to go to Savannah and do the entire tour now of every place this book happened

Lauren Dale

As a novel I would say it’s slightly above average, but upon closing the book and discovering its nonfiction I changed my tune immediately and I would say it’s among the best literary nonfiction I’ll ever read! I couldn’t believe it. Along with that, I myself have been charmed by Savannah, so what’s not to love?

Jeremy Boyd

A struggle between beauty and darkness, charm and tragedy, creates this lasting image of both the city and its occupants. It is not a book of events, but rather a journey into the core of human nature and society, so it has to be read by every person interested in the intricacies of the human experience. Whether it be true crime, Southern culture, or character-driven narrative, all mixes into one that makes Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil something for any reader, thus ensuring its place as a modern classic.

Doyenne

Ryan Mateyk

When I first started looking up books on the internet like... 20 years ago at this point (woah!), I always recall seeing this cover. It was absolutely everywhere, and now here we are, nearing 30 years since it's original publication, and I'm finally reading it with my book club. 

At it's core, this book is about the real-life shooting of Danny Hansford, a volatile young man, at the hands of a Southern gentleman antiques dealer named Jim Williams, and the subsequent trials. However, you'll need to read at least a third of this book, if not more, to get to this main conflict. Before we even learn of the crime, we are introduced to a huuuge cast of eccentrics who populate the fascinating backdrop of Savannah, GA. We've got a sinister amateur entolomologist and his wealthy diva of a girlfriend. We've got the boisterous lovable transgender performer. We've got the nationally recognized but locally disrespected husband and wife duo of preservationists. We've got a voodoo priestess. In my mind, this book wasn't so much about the crime and punishment as it was a portrait of a city and those who inhabit it. I think this is partly because I enjoyed the first part much more than the remainder. I found, especially the last 100 or so pages, the story slowed down to a crawl and my interest was dwindling - I'm attributing this to (view spoiler)[literally four trials that I think even John Berendt grew tired of writing about (hide spoiler)]. Overall, good but not perfect, though it was remarkable how it read like a novel... now that I'm done, I find myself shocked to search these characters names and find photos of real people. 

RIP Lady Chablis!

Sarah Sammis

I really enjoyed this book. The fluid prose and lucious descriptions had me forgetting that I was reading non-fiction.

mic shulman

Lizeth Esmeralda

Caroline

I enjoyed reading this whilst under a spooky tree in the town it is set in.

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. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is 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.

Michael Springer

A long, long time ago, back in high school, I read and loved this book. I've meant to read Berendt's newer book, but I still haven't tracked down a copy. Then again, my list of books I want to read is probably longer than the list of books I've read. 

Anyway, this is based upon a true story. It may even be considered non-fiction. In fact, I think it is. See? I DID read it a long long time ago. Just a moment ago, I stuck it in my general-fiction folder. Guess I'll have to move it. 

I'll just mention I thoroughly enjoyed it, and say it's an evocative and mysterious book set in Savannah, Georgia, with well-written characters and an expert sense of place.

Colleen

4 Stars
 
*A strange yet absorbing combination of memoir and True Crime*
 
I picked up Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil because of its title. It was such a catchy, evocative title that it sparked my imagination. This is a book I have heard mentioned many times, but I knew almost nothing about its content other than it had to do with a murder case in Savannah, Georgia.
 
This book had much less of a True Crime element than I was expecting. In fact, the murder isn’t even mentioned until about half way through the book. The first half follows the author’s experiences in Savannah and a cast of eccentric locals that he meets. That part was entertaining and interesting but was essentially just a memoir, thus very different from my expectations. Nevertheless, Berndt’s writing is vivid and engaging. He captures the spirit of each person he writes about to the point where you could almost imagine you would recognize them if you passed them on the street. During the first few chapters, I felt more like I was reading a Bailey White story than a true crime book. Still, I frequently wondered what an antique dealer, a local drunk, a socialite, a jazz singer, a conman, a voodoo priestess, and a drag queen had to do with the murder. And as it turns out most of them had only a tangential relation to the case and a few had none at all.
 
In the second half, you finally get to read about the murder though it’s much more focused on the court case and people’s reaction to the case. Because the murder in question was one I had never heard of, I was able to read along and had no idea how the case would turn out. Berendt did a great job of parceling out information so that seemed like the case could go either way. His writing seems mostly impartial though in reality he must have ingratiated himself somehow in order to get so exclusively imbedded in the case.
 
My main issue with this book didn’t arise until I read the author’s note at the end. It turns out that the way the book is set up is misleading. With the first half of the book meandering through the daily lives of several characters with no mention of the murder, it makes it seem like the author just happen to be in Savannah writing a book when someone he was interviewing committed murder. And that he then decided to follow the case and its effect on the lives of his interviewees. Sure, it seemed odd, but I thought perhaps it was like an Ann Rule type of coincidence. But the truth is that the author didn’t go to Savannah until the murder trial was under way, and that he went there entirely for the purpose of writing a book about the case. There were many of the scenes from the beginning of the book that seemed like they occurred pre-murder with the author present, but it turns out they were either being relayed to him after the fact or they occurred post-murder. Although Berendt said that he structured the book that way in order to allow readers to get to know the characters before discussing the murder, I still felt that it was misleading. It made me question a lot of things.
 
I also questioned the author’s reliability because of some questionable ethics concerning the way he got so entangled in the case. I won’t give away exactly what, but I don’t believe it was a coincidence that the book didn’t get published until after the suspect had died and the statute of limitations had passed.
 
The other odd thing about the book was how often the author provided detailed descriptions of other people having sex. It was too voyeuristic and gimmicky.
 
Despite that, I have to admit that Berendt is a talented writer. He absolutely brings Savannah, it’s culture, and its citizens to life. The story was easy to read and engaging. But at its core, it is more of a memoir of living in a vibrant, unique city than a true crime book. Most of the book felt more like a series of essays on Savannah life than a cohesive book. I’d take the whole thing with a grain of salt, but it was certainly entertaining.
 

RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Attention to Details: 4 Stars
Emotional Level: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Objectivity: 3 Stars

a Savannah story

Midnight in the garden of good and evil

Kirsten Simkiss

This book was a solid 3 star read for me. It took me nearly three weeks to muscle my way through this book because I just couldn't find it in me to care. That's not to say this is a bad book, I just found it to be slower than I would have liked. If you've seen the movie, you will find that the movie is faithful to the book in it's own way, but it doesn't even begin to prepare you for the fact that this book documents the FOUR trials Jim Williams goes through to prove his innocence in the eyes of the law. Needless to say, it gets a little repetitive. 

And oh lord is it slow. I mean the first third of the book is nothing but character studies so you know the characters going into the first murder trial. Even after that, it feels like character after character study surrounding the murder. Some of it almost seemed unnecessary to be learning at that point. I wish it had been better intermingled between the trials as opposed to all at the start of the book. The start of a book is meant to set the pace of the book and I really think that should have been a warning to me. I'm not much of one for history books, but this did remind me of one in spots.

All in all, if you like slower paced books, you will probably be fine with this book. It's not a bad read at all. On the contrary, the content was actually quite interesting. It just had trouble keeping my attention for more than a chapter or two.

Sara Turner

Classic and beautifully written. I listen to half of this book on audio, and I’m glad I did. The voices really made it come to life. I loved the characters and the plot line. All around good book.

Elizabeth Moore

Good story and great characters! I'm guessing I'm in the micro-minority here, but I actually liked Berendt's City Of Falling Angel's even more.

I wish there was even more of Lady Chablis because she was awesome.

Kendra Leigh 

This book just gave me Great Gatsby and New Orleans vibes and it made me want to visit Savannah sooo badly. I would definitely recommend it as an audiobook- the narrator is fantastic!

Emma Bickford

I really struggled to finish this book. The plot started out interesting, but I felt like it dragged a lot by making commentary on lots of various aspects of Savannah and people that didn’t connect to matter to the crime. Chablis was the most interesting character to me, but I still felt like I was pulling my feet slowly through the Savannah swamp to finish this one off.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Reviews

Highlights