midnight in the garden of good and evil musical review

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THE LANDMARK NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, NOW A MAJOR MUSICAL COMING SOON TO BROADWAY • An enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling Southern city: “Elegant and wicked.... [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." —The New York Times Book Review • 30th Anniversary Edition with a New Afterword by the Author.

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 is a sublime and seductive reading experience. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, this true-crime book has become a modern classic.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Reprint edition (June 28, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0679751521
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0679751526
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.86 x 8 inches
Reviewer: Richard N. Hansen
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A READ BEFORE VISITING SAVANNAH
Review: I first read this book years ago and then saw the movie when it first came out . I recently re-visited Savannah on a bike-tour. Re-reading it after seeing almost all the landmarks mentioned was quite rewarding. This is well-written, very interesting read about Savannah and the American South.

Reviewer: jmk444
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A riveting read....
Review: I thought John Berendt did a very good job of weaving a rich tapestry of eccentric characters and a fascinating setting, into an original true crime story. The book is based on an actual murder that set the precedent for OJ Simpson's defense, that is challenging the police and Medical Examiner's handling of the crime scene evidence.Berendt spent eight years in Savannah, researching the book that originally started out as an article and it shows! In fact, maybe it shows too much...that is, what I gather, most of his critics have a problem with - INFO DUMP. Berendt does give reams of background material, but I never found it slow going. After reading this book you could picture Savannah and Berendt spun the same kinds of word pictures of each character. You'd swear you knew them all after reading this book.Jim Williams, a wealthy antiques and collectibles dealer, was charged with the murder of his live-in assistant (and part time male prostitute) Danny Hansford and the trial set off a local firestorm.As in the OJ case there were no witnesses - Williams charged self-defense, the prosecutor charged murder and the case went to trial...FOUR TIMES!The original sticking point was the total lack of gun powder residue on Danny Hansford's hands, indicating that he never fired a gun and that Williams may have simply murdered him. Throughout the trials, Williams maintains his innocence as the prosecutor builds more and more circumstantial evidence that shows increasing animosity between Williams and Hansford, Hansford's wild demeanor and bad temper.In one trial, a single juror, a woman who'd had to defend herself against a violent ex-husband, held out for acquittal, resulting in another hung jury. The fourth trial was moved to Augusta, Georgia - "the heart of the Bible Belt," where the homosexual overtones where not expected to play very well. In Berendt's story, Jim Williams begins telling him how Danny grabbed a gun in which the firing pin had been filed down and Williams reached into his desk for his own gun and fired, fearing the younger man's rage. But Williams lawyer comes in with a blockbuster piece of evidence - neither the police at the scene, nor the hospital staff had bagged Danny Hansford's hands at the scene. In fact, they'd been bagged with plastic bags, which would allow any gun powder residue to be washed away by the condensation. Williams was off the hook!The book is a fascinating murder mystery, set in a fascinating town, with an array of exotic characters. There's Minerva, the voodoo princess, who helps Jim Williams commune with Danny dead spirit. Joe Odom is the house squatting, local entrepreneur. Lady Chablis (Frank) is a black transvestite who puts on burlesque shows at some of the local venues. There's even a man who walks the leash of a dog that died years ago, in order to keep receiving the $25/week for walking his late bosses pet.This book is certainly worth reading if only to see the way our legal process actually works. Just as in the OJ case, money appears to triumph over justice in the end. But what else is new? When or where has it been otherwise? After spending nearly two years on the hardcover bestseller list, I guess most folks have read this...if you haven't, by all means check it out. It's a very well crafted read.

Reviewer: Chuck Werber
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Playful and entertaining!
Review: A fun and enjoyable read. Eccentric characters, sly observations and witty writing.The author, John Berendt, affects the role of "straight man" among a cast of unintentional comedians.

Reviewer: Debi S
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: What a great read!
Review: Non-fiction that reads like fiction (proves that truth is stranger than fiction!) - wonderfully written. Very entertaining. Makes you want to visit Savannah to see what’s in the story. A great read that keeps your mind engaged.

Reviewer: Aurora Grace
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Well-written, but haphazardly compiled
Review: This is a book about Savannah. Don't let the synopsis fool you. Nothing about the "shots ring[ing] out in Savannah's greatest mansion" is mentioned until about halfway through the book. Even once it's brought up, the tale of the murder trial is interrupted with chapters on illegal bus tours of houses and a foray to the black debutante ball with an obnoxious drag queen.Each chapter, when taken on its own, is well-written and engaging. However, when compiled together, this book comes across as a rather haphazard collection of tales, and this bothered me. If this had been billed as a collection of short (true) stories or essays on life in Savannah, I probably would have enjoyed it more because I would have come into it with different expectations. Since it was billed as a murder mystery of sorts, with a wide array of characters, I had expected most of the characters to have something to do with the murder. Maybe the killer wasn't who we all initially thought it was? Nope. Maybe the killer had accessories to the crime? Nope. Aside from the murderer, the victim, and the voodoo priestess, no one mentioned in the book had anything to do with the crime, or even with anyone else in the book. They seemed to be thrown in there to make the book longer, or maybe because Berendt had promised that he would include them in a chapter in the book he was writing.It certain ways, it reminded me of a blog, in that the book seems to have been established with a purpose, but veers off point sometimes to examine whatever interests the writer at the time. I think this is ironic since the book was written before blogs were common.I would avoid giving this book a rating if I could, because I'm not sure how to rate it. I enjoyed it. I particularly enjoyed reading the parts about Jim Williams and Joe Odom, but I could have done without the parts on Chablis (the obnoxious black drag queen). I felt irked by the lack of cohesiveness in parts of the book, and I remember feeling very exasperated when I was well over a hundred pages in and there was still no mention of the shooting mentioned in the first sentence of the synopsis. But since I have to rate it to post this review, I'll go with three stars, because that's the most non-committal rating out there.

Reviewer: Janet in BC
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: very fast delivery, book arrived in perfect condition, excellent read

Reviewer: lichi
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: FUN, WELL DEVELOPED CHARACTERS WHO PRESENTED THE CITY OF Savannah. REALLY ENJOYED IT. VERY REFRESHING. Worth Reading with a glass of wine by yourside.

Reviewer: eshwari.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: it gives experience that story happening in front of you. and you watch all as you are the one neighbour to mencers house. ....

Reviewer: Kay L. Sheridan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I have the DVD of this film which I rewatch many times so thought I would read the book. I love them both and they are a look into another era which is stunning and beautiful and which sinks into degradation on a very sad level. I would give them both 10 stars

Reviewer: Dambar65
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Lo stile del linguaggio è molto curato nella ricerca della semplicità e facilità di lettura, i periodi sono relativamente brevi e scorrevoli, non vengono usati quasi mai termini ricercati e le espressioni idiomatiche usate sono abbastanza intuitive.Risulta quindi un buon libro su cui far pratica per chi sta studiando l’inglese.La copertina è un po troppo leggera sembra di aver tra le mani una rivista più che un libro, al contrario la carta delle pagine è di buona grammatura e piacevole al tatto.La trama è basata per lo più su persone e fatti reali, ed è incentrata sulla descrizione della città di Savannah e dei suoi cittadini da parte di un giovane giornalista che come tutti cede al fascino alla magnificenza e alla singolarità dei luoghi e dei personaggi incontrati.L’impressione che ho avuto ad inizio lettura è stata quella di esser immersi in un mondo elitario o addirittura in un epoca fuori dal tempo stesso in cui è ambientato il romanzo, un’atmosfera tipo anni venti, simile a quella del Grande Gatsby di Francis Scott Fitzgerald tanto per fare un esempio, atmosfera che sembra percepita è desiderata dai personaggi stessi della storia.Il titolo diventa sempre più eloquente avanzando con la lettura che piano piano mette in mostra la duplice faccia delle medaglie, anche di quelle più lucenti.Sperando di esservi stato utile auguro a tutti una piacevole letura