Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Aug 01, 2012 Rae rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: true-crime-and-forensics, 2012

Although this book is mainly in the true crime genre, it is also one of the best books around for getting the feel of Savannah, Georgia with its idiosyncratic characters and history. I was much more interested in that aspect of the book than with the story of Jim Williams and his supposed lover.

Many of the people introduced in the book were distasteful to me and certainly do not fit the typical southern genteel stereotype. But then, that's Savannah, according to the author.

I read lightly throu Although this book is mainly in the true crime genre, it is also one of the best books around for getting the feel of Savannah, Georgia with its idiosyncratic characters and history. I was much more interested in that aspect of the book than with the story of Jim Williams and his supposed lover.

Many of the people introduced in the book were distasteful to me and certainly do not fit the typical southern genteel stereotype. But then, that's Savannah, according to the author.

I read lightly through Berendt's tale--enough to get the scoop on Savannah and to follow the thread of the murder trials (yes, that is plural).

I was really surprised by how many famous people had connections with Savannah (like Johnny Mercer, Conrad Aiken, Flannery O'Connor, Eli Whitney, and Juliette Gordon Low). Also America's first Sunday School, orphanage, black Baptist congregation, and golf course were in this historic place. The city really has a different history than any other place in the South. It's definitely worth exploring.

Stuff I liked:

Life in Savannah was always easier than it was out on the plantations. Savannah was a city of rich cotton traders, who lived in elegant houses within strolling distance of one another. Parties became a way of life, and it's made a difference. We're not at all like the rest of Georgia. We have a saying: If you go to Atlanta, the first question people ask you is, 'What's your business?' In Macon they ask, 'Where do you go to church?' In Augusta they ask your grandmother's maiden name. But in Savannah the first question people ask you is 'What would you like to drink?' (30)

Walls of thick vegetation rose up on all sides and arched overhead in a lacy canopy that filtered the light to a soft shade. It had just rained; the air was hot and steamy. I felt enclosed in a semitropical terrarium, sealed off from a world that suddenly seemed a thousand miles away. (28)

"The dead are very much with us in Savannah," she said. "Everywhere you look there is a reminder of things that were, people who lived. We are keenly aware of our past." (31-32)

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Aug 08, 2012 stephanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: would-rec, prize-winners, non-fiction, american-history, mystery, 2013, true-crime

i really liked this book. i have no idea how it turned into a movie, because of all the characters and the relative lack of serious drama revolving around the murder, but. i loved this book. i loved how these people were so casually talked about because there were indeed just part of the fabric of savannah - from luther driggs to serena to the fights about who restored what historical parts and so on and so forth.

i went to savannah to visit during spring break in 2001. the squares were truly go ...more

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Aug 21, 2007 Jen Peters rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Good book, lots of information about Savannah. It really makes me want to look into taking a long weekend and visiting Georgia. I felt that there were maybe too many characters though.

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