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Interviews | November 19, 2009

Dave: IMG Finding John Irving: The Powells.com Interview



[Editor's note: The following is a reprint of our 2005 interview with John Irving, whose new novel, Last Night in Twisted River, has just come out... Continue »

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

by John Berendt

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

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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.

About the Author

John Berendt writes a monthly column for Esquire.  He has been the editor of New York magazine and lives in New York.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780679429227
Subtitle:
A Savannah Story
Author:
Berendt, John
Publisher:
Random House
Location:
New York :
Subject:
Murder
Subject:
History
Subject:
United states
Subject:
United States - State & Local
Subject:
Legal History
Subject:
Trials (Murder)
Subject:
Celebrities
Subject:
Trials
Subject:
Trials (Murder) -- Georgia -- Savannah.
Subject:
Celebrities -- Georgia -- Savannah -- History.
Subject:
Savannah
Subject:
United States - State & Local - General
Subject:
Murder - General
Subject:
Savannah (Ga.) Social life and customs.
Subject:
Savannah (Ga.) History.
Copyright:
Edition Number:
1st ed.
Series Volume:
1
Publication Date:
January 1994
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
400
Dimensions:
9.57x5.98x1.30 in. 1.43 lbs.

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