Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil

3.98 out of 5 (87 ratings)

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Format:: Paperback
Pages:: 400
Publisher:: Hodder & Stoughton General Division
Publication Date:: 03 September 2009
Category:: Books
ISBN:: 9780340992852

Description

Genteel society ladies who compare notes on their husbands' suicides. A hilariously foul-mouthed black drag queen. A voodoo priestess who works her roots in the graveyard at midnight. A morose inventor who owns a bottle of poison powerful enough to kill everyone in town. A prominent antiques dealer who hangs a Nazi flag from his window to disrupt the shooting of a movie. And a redneck gigolo whose conquests describe him as a 'walking streak of sex'. These are some of the real residents of Savannah, Georgia, a city whose eccentric mores are unerringly observed - and whose dirty linen is gleefully aired - in this utterly irresistible book. At once a true-crime murder story and a hugely entertaining and deliciously perverse travelogue, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is as bracing and intoxicating as half-a-dozen mint juleps.

Reader Reviews

Showing 1-4 out of 98 reviews. Previous | Next

There was a lot of hype around this book a few years back, but in this case I think it is actually deserved. For one, Berendt is a skilled writer who understands how to tease a compelling story out of the material he’s working with. And, oh, what material! The true-crime mystery at the center of the book—whether the social-climbing, closeted gay antiques dealer shot his lover in cold blood or self-defense—is interesting enough, but Berendt decorates that story with outrageous character portraits of Savannah’s very oddball residents. Whether he’s discussing the quirky, old-South rituals of the Married Women’s Card Club or the disturbed local genius who may or may not be plotting to poison the town’s water supply, Berendt kept me so engaged I relished every moment. Be wary of the movie version of Midnight, though. Good actors, bad adaptation. If you like the book, however, you may want to watch it just to see the notorious drag queen play herself. Sometimes, truth really is better than fiction.

5.00 out of 5

Lenaphoenix
I am sorry I never did get to see New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit it. More than any other American city, New Orleans seems to have a mythical life of its own, thanks to books like this, and Anne Rice's novels.

5.00 out of 5

AnnieJanicki
What a great story!! I was immediately engrossed in the colorful characters (such as a performing cross dresser Lady Chablis, a man that walks an imaginary dog and a voodoo priestess) and scandals of Savannah Georgia. I would have given Midnight in the Garden of Good or Evil a hands down 5 stars except for the second half of the story with became too wrapped up in the trial of socialite Jim Williams and didn’t focus as much on its eccentric inhabitants. Once again I have no idea why this book has lingered so long on my shelf. This year I have unearthed some hidden gems.

5.00 out of 5

deep220
I was inspired to read this again by a trip into Bonaventure Cemetery a few weeks ago. It really is a good novel. If it weren't true, it would be unbelievable, if that makes sense. Truth truly is stranger than fiction!

5.00 out of 5

hobbitprincess