Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (1994, Hardcover)

Synopsis
This nonfiction novel about a celebrated Savannah murder case--an upper-crust antiques dealer was accused of shooting his male lover--is also a love song to the city of Savannah.

Key Details
Author:	John Berendt
Language:	English
Publisher:	Random House, Inc.
Format:	Hardcover
ISBN-10:	0679429220
ISBN-13:	9780679429227

Size
Thickness:	1.2 in
Weight:	23.2 oz

Publisher's Note
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 this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.



It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight.  These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.



Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story is a sublime and seductive reading experience.  Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, this enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling Southern city is certain to become a modern classic.

Industry Reviews
"Berendt's writing is elegant and wickedly funny, and his eye for telling details is superb...[This] might be the first true-crime book that makes the reader want to...book a bed and breakfast for an extended weekend at the scene of the crime."
Washington Post - Jonathan Yardley

"John Berendt's MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL hit stores in 1994, and as word spread, the book--part travelogue, part true crime--hit the best-seller lists; it still holds tight to its status as one of the longest-lasting non-fiction books ever. The book, which involves the murder trial of a Savannah, Ga., antiques dealer accused of shooting his handyman lover, was recently released in paperback."
Chicago Tribune - Elizabeth Taylor (09/26/1999)