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Dec 16, 2009

Taylor rated it:

I love this book to the point where I don't even really know what to say about it, because nothing I can say about it will be good enough to explain just how incredible this book really is.

After reading this book, I had to restrain myself from booking a flight to Savannah. It makes you want to be there, it makes you want to know the people, it makes you want to pick up and find a place just like it so you can move there. I am a city person through and through, but this book made me w More...

7 comments like (18 people liked it)

May 29, 2007

Adam rated it:

This was a decent book. There was a lot of mood, of which I'm a big fan. The characters all had the potential to be very interesting, but unfortuately, they weren't developed. That's not to say you don't spend a lot of time with them, or find out anything about them, it's just that you don't really give a damn.

The book is written by a magazine journalist who ends up living on and off in Savanah, GA for eight years to investigate and chronicle a murder and it's trials. This book More...

3 comments like (11 people liked it)

Jul 08, 2008

Lena rated it:

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 More...

2 comments like (18 people liked it)

Sep 18, 2007

Lucinda rated it:

I chose this book for the title and the fact that I love Savannah. As a former Georgia peach, I think the story works because it is told from the view of an outsider, and because the cast of characters is quite an interesting ensemble.While each new character introduced is appealing enough to catch your eye, he doesn't go into too much detail to detract from the main story or main characters.

The descriptions of the place and the people and even the food are detailed enough to give More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Jun 11, 2008

Suzanne rated it:

I just couldn't put this down. Berendt did a magnificent job in bringing these real life people to the page in a memorable and entertaining way.
One of my favorite scenes includes the cross dresser who works in the hardware store. His employer disapproves of his wearing "makeup" while working, so he only makes up one half of his face, and then spends his working days at the store turning his head, so customers and his employer won't see the "makeup". To think this i More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2011

Bettie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

62 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2011

Jake rated it:

"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" is ostensibly about the macabre truths that lie behind Savannah's gentile facade. As you might expect, these are of a distinctly Gothic nature. Imagine a travel guide written by Tennessee Williams. We are invited to marvel at some familiar grotesques: the homosexual in a smoking jacket, the socialite drunk at noon, the young hustler with a Red Camaro, the outrageous trannie, the witch doctor. All of this is presented with a light touch, eve More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 28, 2011

Amanda rated it:

Murder, gullah, drag queens--oh my! (These are a few of my favorite things . . .) There's probably not much I can say about this book that hasn't already been said, but that won't stop me. I saw the movie when it first came out and loved it, but just never got around to reading the book. I thought that the entire book would be about the murder trial of Jim Williams, the prominent Savannah antiques dealer accused of murdering Danny Hansford (with whom it was rumored he was having a sexual rel More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

May 20, 2008

Tabby rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Leah rated it:

Its a lucious, dreamy, hilarious, booze-soaked, mischief-ridden, poetic, sultry tromp through Savannah. Murder, frivolity, Americanna. The genre of semi-historical really doesn't get a hell of a lot better. I actually read this in high school and reread it recently. I found, much to my great delight, that it was still excellent. Further proving, I guess, that 15-year-old tastes aren't all horribly misguided.

Anyway, I loved this book all over again. but a quick warning; while I More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

May 26, 2010

Maggie rated it:

I can't say enough about this book. I came into work raving about it and telling everyone that if they haven't read it, pick it up ASAP.

The writing is superb, the characters fresh and fascinating. I'm allready planning my trip to Savannah!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2011

Laura rated it:

Just arrived from Finland through BM.

What a pity this book ended. I must find a way to visit this beautiful city of Savannah.

The story is about the trial of Jim Williams, a Savannah's socialite and an international antiques dealer, crazy by the famous Faberge eggs, which was accused of the murder of Danny Handsford.

After had discovered that a super-saver fare to Savannah cost the same as an entree in a Manhattan restaurant, the author spent eight years fitti More...

10 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 04, 2008

Deborah rated it:

If you can read this book and not want to immediately hop a plane to Savannah, Georgia, then I do not know what to say to you. I read this book several years ago (and even remember reading a huge chunk of it in the laundromat and another huge chunk of it outside the same laundromat, which had closed up but I could not stop reading), because it was pretty much surgically attached to my hand the entire time. Berendt brought these eccentrics to life in a way that made the entire culture mesmerizing More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 18, 2007

Chad rated it:

Having an aunt in New Orleans, the south has always intrigued me. Fantastic architecture aside, the culture and people are truly fascinating; though I'm often content to remain a casual observer, without really pushing myself to learn more.

With little more than an elementary curiosity for Savannah, I was quite thrilled when my mother brought over a box of books she'd been given by a friend and I saw this lying on top.

Through this book I feel as though I'd been given the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 13, 2007

Emily rated it:

I thought this was a great example of what true crime can be when in the hands of a really good writer.

This book is actually two parts. The first part sets up the scene - the oh-so-southern Savannah, Georgia, and the many characters the author met while living there. This, I thought, was the better half of the book. Berendt does a great job of introducing the residents of Savannah and makes you feel like it's a place you've lived. I had to keep reminding myself it was a non-fic More...

0 comments like

Jan 21, 2008

ann rated it:

The date I read this book is a total guess - because I love it so much I've read it almost every year!
I discovered it after reading a review in a Sunday paper, obviously a well-written review as it prompted me to go and buy the book, something never achieved before or since! I sat in a restaurant alone and read, and read, and read until it was closing time. That must say something!
This true story totally captures the hot, sultry mood of Savannah, and goes at that pace - any faster an More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2011

♥Xeni♥ rated it:

This was an impossible book, that just got more charming the more I read it!

Written like a memoir, and based on true facts, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a wonderful description of just one town, with all it's charm, derelicts and traditions.

I love every single word of this book; there was so much satire and in-context humor that made it so hilarious, but at the same time, the story was serious and down-to-earth in a way that you don't find much anymore.

More...

10 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 13, 2010

Becky rated it:

This book made me realize how much I miss the south. I miss the almost daily afternoon thunderstorms, the humid days and the cool nights, the cicadas and crickets, the ancient trees. I love the fact that a person can get by with just a sweater all winter long.

I really enjoyed the historical references given about Savannah, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite cities. The city and the people in it were described with such clarity that you almost feel as if you know them. More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

May 12, 2008

Abigail rated it:

I'm about 14 years behind the crowd on this one, but I can see why "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" caused such a stir. The characters are fascinating, even more so because they are real. Berendt achieves a nice balance of getting close to the people of Savannah -- from the fabulous Lady Chablis and voodoo queen Minerva to antiques collector/murderer Jim Williams and lawyer/pianoman Joe Odom -- and keeping enough distance to maintain his status as an outside observer. In a More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2007

Karin rated it:

Excellent observation and storytelling skills; the first half as much more interesting than the second. Highly reminiscent of "The Orchid Thief," yet smoother, less theoretical, more personable. Both are books of non-fiction written by New Yorkers who are drawn to a community in the American South, and over the next few years become a part-time resident. There's almost a suggestion of the "other" in the descriptions of Southern Allure, as though it's not the PLACE the writers More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 06, 2007

Shannon rated it:

This is one of my favorite books and inspired my first visit to Savannah. The characters are fantasy come to life and the lush descriptions of the city make you want to experience all this spooky historic city has to offer. The book is losely based on the murder of Danny Hansford by the eccentric self made art dealer Jim Williams. But it is the supporting characters such as The Lady Chablis that make this story what it is. The famous cover of the bird-girl statue taken in Bonaventure Cemetery is More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 07, 2007

Joel rated it:

I bought this book from the Salvation Army because I had seen the movie, couldn't remember it, but did remember that John Cusack was in it. And if he was in it, it's got to be quality, right?

Anyway, upon reading, it was. A really interesting and fun portrayal of Savannah, I'm sure fact and fiction crossed back and forth with each other, but whatever the case, the writing was poetic when it needed to be, and straight-forward when it needed to be, creating a book that was a pleasure to More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 02, 2007

Karen rated it:

Although I enjoyed it, I think this book could have been much better. The first half is largely a series of character studies, and the second half is essentially a true-life crime novel. Unfortunately I grew dangerously bored with the first half, and as the mystery unfolds, I grew annoyed that many of the characters introduced in the first half really have little play or impact on the rest of the book. The murder mystery itself is an interesting story but is very anticlimactic. While the book is More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2011

Lew rated it:

Berendt introduces those not from the South to a totally different world and a real-life crime. We happened to be in Savannah when Clint Eastwood was doing the film, and also met several of the characters, including a performance by the lady of a thousand songs.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Angela rated it:

I came across the title of this book as I was researching where to go in the South. First book ever written by John Berendt, the book was a New York Times bestseller for 216 weeks since its release in 1994 and was made into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood in 1997. Set in Savannah, Georgia, this is a non-fiction that narrates a range of events that occurred in the 1980s, including a murder of a local hustler by an art dealer. This story of prolonged murder trial is favored with the various More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 30, 2009

Amy rated it:

A mostly true story, John Berendt writes about Savannah with an obvious and infectious love. The beginning section where he introduces many of the characters gets a little tedious with an abundance of people that are there to add spice but not substance. The second half drags with the monotony of four murder trials. Overall, it was a good read, but too much filler made you long for action. Take away this charming and mysterious old city, you're left with not much.

This isn't a film r More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Jordan rated it:

This book is an amazing work of creative nonfiction. Savannah, Georgia provides some of the most unbeleivable characters for Berendt's work. No doubt some liberties were taken to make dull plot lines a bit more exciting, but everyone in this book is a real person. Everyone wants to be one the right party lists and to be left off is highly insulting. The world's coolest drag queen is in this book as well. There is also a very eccentric art dealer who is the hottest host in town. There are d More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 13, 2008

Tiffany rated it:

This is one of my all time favs and one of the few books I've ever read twice. It's full of facinating, quirky characters like Lady Chablis, the transvestite, and the guy who walks a non-existant dog down the street every day.

After reading the first time, I longed to visit Savannah, and a few years later, I got to do so. It's a gorgeous city with a park in each city block, and the book makes it come to life. I actually got to tour the house owned by the family of the main character. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 27, 2007

Cindy rated it:

A true account of events in Savannah in the 1980's. The main story revolves around a shooting death and the 4 trials that it took to resolve the murder charge. There are various colorful characters and anecdotes.
I was expecting more from this book after reading the reviews on Goodreads. It was written by a (former?) reporter and read more like a factual account than a first person narrative. I guess I wanted to know how the author felt about all the people and situations he encountered More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 01, 2007

Nathan rated it:

I am one of the few people who loved both the movie and the book. But that may be because I saw Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil before I read it. You know that saying, "the book was better"? Everyone who fancies themselves a reader says it about any movie based on any book. It sounds good, and it overlooks the obvious apples-vs-oranges aspect of film vs. book criticism. In this case, however, it's true. The book is infinitely better than the movie. A great start for anyone who More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)