{"product_id":"midnight-in-the-garden-of-good-and-evil-a-savannah-story-9780679751526","title":"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story","description":"\u003cb\u003eTHE LANDMARK \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER - 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.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review \u003cb\u003e- \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e30th Anniversary Edition with a New Afterword by the Author.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShots 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIt 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil\u003c\/i\u003e is a sublime and seductive reading experience. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, this true-crime book has become a modern classic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe son of two writers, JOHN BERENDT grew up in Syracuse, New York. He earned a B.A. in English from Harvard University, where he worked on the staff of The Harvard Lampoon. After graduating in 1961, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in publishing. Berendt has written for David Frost and Dick Cavett, was editor of \u003ci\u003eNew York\u003c\/i\u003e magazine from 1977 to 1979, and wrote a monthly column for \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003efrom 1982 to 1994. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Berendt first traveled to Savannah in the early 1980s, when he realized that he could fly there for a three-day weekend for the price of \"a paillard of veal served on a bed of wilted radicchio\" [p. 24] in one of New York's trendier restaurants. Over the ensuing eight years his visits became more frequent and extended, until he was spending more time in Savannah than in New York. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Part of the appeal, Berendt says, lay in the city's penchant for morbid gossip: \"People in Savannah don't say, 'Before leaving the room, Mrs. Jones put on her coat.' Instead, they say, 'Before leaving the room, Mrs. Jones put on the coat that her third husband gave her before he shot himself in the head.\" (\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, 3\/11\/94, p. 52) \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Since the publication and unprecedented success of \u003cb\u003eMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil\u003c\/b\u003e, Berendt has become a Savannah celebrity and was even presented with the key to the city. \"I took it down to City Hall one night to see if it would work, but it didn't.\" (\u003ci\u003eSyracuse Post Standard\u003c\/i\u003e, 4\/5\/1994)\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50575567290642,"sku":"9780679751526","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e9c3f19b-87b2-464c-a00f-a3a3a749250e.jpg?v=1731984116","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/midnight-in-the-garden-of-good-and-evil-a-savannah-story-9780679751526","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}