Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story

by John Berendt

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679751521
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.9" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

A fly on the wall perspective.

A colorful insider view of an eclectic southern town. Reads like fiction but is actually a true story! I was oddly drawn in.

EXCELLENT & True Crime

Really a very good &. true-crime story--- it happened. In a magnificent city, with real people, and lingering questions....

Very boring, slow, and pointless

Very, very slow plot. I read half of the book and nothing remotely exciting had happened yet, so I straight up quit reading it. If the end was super good, it wasn't worth the wasted time to get through the boring beginning half. I was told it was a murder mystery, no murder by halfway point, only very, VERY slow character development. The characters weren't even likable or relatable either. Obviously with a title like that you'd expect some graphic stuff, but it was mostly distasteful and didn't add to the content of the story in any way that I could see.

Great book. Full of accurate Savannah history.

Loved this book. Visited Savannah while reading it and wow, the book is historically accurate and full of details. The locals even rave about how much history is depicted in the book and that is is accurate and these people actually existed. Love it

Love it!

Love it

GREAT book! After a few years I still think about the story line and the characters. GREAT movie as

I can't understand those who didn't think this book AND the movie were great! I don't know what they thought they were going to read. Perhaps they were expecting instant gratification - such as video games, etc. The characters from the both were so clear to me and amplified in the movie by perfectly selected actors for their roles. I read this quite awhile ago and have recommended it to many friends who also loved it. Perhaps watching the movie would clarify things for those with negative reviews?

Unbearably tedious and pointless

There is no story! Just one boring encounter with residents of Savannah after another with tedious conversations about nothing.

Outdated?

The writing isn't bad, but as some other reviewers have said it takes a while for anything to get going. This is a character study of southerners in Savannah, but they feel like they're superficial, like writing about a trip to the zoo and describing the animals you saw there. Ended up not finishing it because it was pretty slow and I didn't get to any point where it seemed like the threads were tying up together and connecting these 'characters' of Savannah together.

Just plain boring

It takes a very long time for events to happen and I found it very difficult to get through. This book ultimately is just boring, and its generally hard to make a mystery book like this boring.

Midnight in the Garden

Fabulous book. Lends a tremendous credit to Eastwood, Spacey and Cusack for an honest interpretation in the movie. Sonny's tale could have happened anywhere in today's world. The details of the real estate developments make great fodder for discussion with friends and relatives who are long-time residents of Savannah. They recall the real names and places and their actual relative involvement with the tale. The book is a "Must Read" for anyone who wants to visit the city and appreciate the treasure of it's rehabilitation. Fabulous book!

If you are going to Savannah....

...then you have to read this book first. The movie is great, but the book is much better. All of the tours mention "The Book," and all of your favorite places are easily found once you travel to Savannah.

A wonderful guilty pleasure

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is just that. A snap shot into the lives of the wealthy and privileged of the South captured in the pages of this novel by the more than skilled and nimble fingers of John Berendet. I almost did not want to reach the end. I fell in love with Savanah, with the wild, wacky and wonderful people that fill this book to the brim with a richness that could only be true. There is a reason that Midnight was the longest running hardback on the New York Times Bestsellers list. It was only recently made into a paperback so that it could reach another audience.This is the story of wealthy and eccectric Jim Williams, who throws lavish parties, is the envy of all of Savannah and equally despised by the same people. During a wild party, one of many, the readers begin to glimpse the underbelly of Jim's world and then suddenly a shot rings out and a man is dead. Accident or murder?How does a transvestite, a vodoo priestess and UGA fit into the picture? You will have to read this fantastically crafted book to discover the truth. If you love the book as much as everyone else - you should rent the movie (which does not hold a candle to the book) just to see the REAL Lady Chablis as she plays herself in the movie.Enjoy this one - it is really worth the read!