Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil (Paperback)

~ (Author) "He was tall,about fifty, with darkly handsome, almost sinister features: a neatly trimmed mustache, hair turning silver at the temples, and eyes so black they..." (more)
Key Phrases: apple schnapps, new chauffeur, gunshot residue, Jim Williams, Danny Hansford, Mercer House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Voodoo. Decadent socialites packing Lugars. Cotillions. With towns like Savannah, Georgia, who needs Fellini? Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil takes two narrative strands--each worthy of its own book--and weaves them together to make a single fascinating tale. The first is author John Berendt's loving depiction of the characters and rascals that prowled Savannah in the eight years it was his home-away-from-home. "Eccentrics thrive in Savannah," he writes, and proves the point by introducing Luther Diggers, a thwarted inventor who just might be plotting to poison the town's water supply; Joe Odom, a jovial jackleg lawyer and squatter nonpareil; and, most memorably, the Lady Chablis, whom you really should meet for yourself. Then, on May 2, 1981, the book's second story line commences, when Jim Williams, a wealthy antique dealer and Savannah's host with the most, kills his "friend" Danny Hansford. (If those quotes make you suspect something, you should.) Was it self-defense, as Williams claimed--or murder? The book sketches four separate trials, during which the dark side of this genteel party town is well and truly plumbed. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

After discovering in the early 1980s that a super-saver fare to Savannah, Ga., cost the same as an entree in a nouvelle Manhattan restaurant, Esquire columnist Berendt spent the next eight years flitting between Savannah and New York City. The result is this collection of smart, sympathetic observations about his colorful Southern neighbors, including a jazz-playing real estate shark; a sexually adventurous art student; the Lady Chablis (' "What was your name before that?" I asked. "Frank," she said.' "); the gossipy Married Woman's Card Club; and an assortment of aging Southern belles. The book is also about the wealthy international antiques dealer Jim Williams, who played an active role in the historic city's restoration--and would also be tried four times for the 1981 shooting death of 21-year-old Danny Handsford, his high-energy, self-destructive house helper. The Williams trials--he died in 1990 of a heart attack at age 59--are lively matches between dueling attorneys fought with shifting evidence, and they serve as both theme and anchor to Berendt's illuminating and captivating travelogue.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Books (June 1, 1995)
• ISBN-10: 0099521016
• ISBN-13: 978-0099521013
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (512 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,095,693 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional..., August 19, 2002

By	Dianna Johnston "Compulsive Reader" (Joplin, MO) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (Paperback)

I'm embarrassed to admit that I had this book on my bookshelf for over three years before finally picking it up. Better late than never, right?! Now that I've finally read it, I must say how truly wonderful and exciting it is. The characters are so eccentric and bizarre, I had to keep reminding myself that these are REAL people. And John Berendt did an excellent job recreating this true-crime story into something so readable, humorous and delicious. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is fabulous...I couldn't get enough of it!

The main character in this novel is first and foremost, Savannah, Georgia. Such a glorious and mysterious backdrop for such an intriguing storyline -- and John Berendt fleshed it out so magnificantly, that Savannah breathes and lives as easily as those who live there. Mostly this book is about a rich antique dealer, Jim Williams, who was accused of murder. However, it is not an ordinary murder case -- all sorts of twists come out of the woodwork for this one, making this novel not only a true-crime story, but a mystery as well. Surrounding the murder aspect are the citizens of Savannah that the author comes in contact with: Luther Driggers, a former pesticide employee, who has a vial of poison potent enough to kill every one in the county; Chablis, the potty-mouthed drag queen and performer; Joe Odom, a modern vagrant who uses his home(s) as a tourist stop; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who uses roots, herbs, and graveyard dirt to weave her magic spells.

Excellent writing and amazing storytelling make Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and must-have book. One of the better novels I have read this year. I watched the movie afterwards, but the book, by far, tells the story better. I recommend this one to everyone -- southern fiction fans will delight in its eccentricities, true-crime lovers will enjoy the murder case, and armchair travelers will be booking trips to Savannah soon after the close of this book! Good job, John Berendt!

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars (Resubmitted) - Find out what the fuss was about, January 29, 2001

By	J. Mullin (Plantation, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (Paperback)

This is one of those books, like Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie, that for some reason captures the attention of the book-buying public, as the hardcover version was on the bestseller lists for years. Most readers have given you their opinions here at Amazon, 325 at last count, and so I figured I would put in my two cents as well. (Please note this review is resubmitted to correct technical errors in the previous version).

Berendt seems to be the perfect example of a writer being in the right place at the right time - he appears in Savannah as a featues writer to cover a lavish holiday party hosted by the extravagant antiques dealer Jim Williams, at the famed Mercer House, and is swept up in a murder and ensuing trial. There is no great mystery associated with the murder itself, everyone knows ... pulled the trigger, and yet Berendt manages to write a colorful, suspenseful page-turner that captivated the imagination of the public like few other non-fiction novels ever have. In Cold Blood by Capote comes to mind, but trust me this story is infinitely more entertaining.

Ultimately, the book works on many levels. It is an effective chronicle of a series of high-profile trials, an extended travelogue in which the colorful city of Savannah stands out as perhaps the star of the book, and a profile of Savannah's arostocracy, in which the reader understands Williams' sense of wanting to belong despite considerable obstacles. (Williams was not "old money", and therefore not really accepted in the city's highest circles, and as the trial revealed he was gay). Most of all, the book is a smorgasbord of colorful characters (none more compelling than the Lady Chablis) and bizarre situations that create a timeless sense of Savannah as a mysterious, alluring city. You encounter men walking imaginary dogs, a voodoo priestess performing odd rituals in a graveyard, and a lawyer who takes off with the UGA mascot for the annual Florida v. Georgia college football game, in the midst of the biggest murder trial of his career.

The language of the book is effortless, almost as if it wrote itself, which makes sense when you consider the author came from a magazine background and started out writing a "fluff" features piece. Berendt thankfully avoids the excessive crime scene minutae and endless details of minor courtroom tactics that sometimes bogs down other true crime books, and keeps the reader focused on the sense of place, and the colorful characters, that are the true focus of his story. I enjoyed it thoroughly, read it very quickly and was sorry to put it down. A definite thumbs up.

47 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better on the third read...., April 5, 2000

By	Terry Mathews (a small town in east Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (Paperback)

I must preface this review by saying I just returned from a week in Savannah...I did all the tourist things...even took "The Book" tour...

I've just re-read "The Book" for the third time and find it even more compelling, charming and utterly delightful than before.

As for its detractors, maybe this is a Southern thing, as we do celebrate our more colorful characters down here...my town's character doesn't collect insects, but he rides a bicycle, sits on Main Street all day, waves at everyone and knows their children...and yes, there are people who are one step ahead of their creditors, but I don't think they have tour buses stopping at their houses for lunch and the occasional hair cut. And no one I've ever known has taken a visitor to a cemetary, no matter how pretty is was, for chicken salad sandwiches and martinis.

I don't think the Married Women's Card Club could have survived for all these years if it were located say, in Chicago or St. Paul. It takes years of strict social standards to keep such rituals as when to serve water and when to "pass the linen" alive. The Olgelthorpe Club, Savannah Yacht Club (and its cousins) are still alive and well in the South, and have not yielded to outside pressures to become politically correct.

The charm and the underbelly of Savannah is real...Berendt captured it on paper and I saw it first hand.

I've never "fallen" for a city like I did for Savannah and, had it not been for "The Book," I would have never visited.

From what I read and what I learned on my trip, Jim Williams would have reveled in the spotlight of "The Book." I'm sure he's looking down (or up, depending on your point of view) and enjoying every snapshot the tourists take of Mercer House. In fact, I could have sworn I saw him looking out of the second story window....or it could have been the sun....

Enjoy!