Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt is a study of Savannah and its native inhabitants. It focuses around the murder trial of Jim Williams, who restored Mercer House in the Historic District of Savannah (it's now called Mercer-Williams House and you can take a tour. It's absolutely beautiful). The house was used in the movie Glory, and of course, the film version of The Book.
Berendt portrays a group of extremely eccentric Savannahians, beginning with the art-and-antiques dealer Williams. He also recounts his meetings with a transvestite who calls herself The Lady Chablis (and who actually still performs in Savannah!), and an ex-lawyer piano player by the name of Joe Odom. There is also Luther Driggers, who reportedly keeps a bottle of poison strong enough to kill all of Savannah if he could only put it in the water supply. Then there's Minerva, a voodoo priestess who works curses on those who stand against Williams.
As if the cast of living characters weren't enough, it's the dead that draw the most attention. The most famous Savannahians are dead, of course: Conrad Aiken, the poet, and Johnny Mercer, who wrote "Moon River" and many other famous songs. Danny Hansford, the man that Jim Williams allegedly killed, is also a central figure around which the story is focused.
This was a re-read for me. I first read the book when I was in high school, and after a trip to Savannah with my mother, I read it a second time. This was the third time for me...I very rarely read books that many times. Of course, I've been to Savannah enough times now that I can picture very easily most of the places that are talked about in The Book.
It's non-fiction that reads like fiction, and the saying is proved true: you couldn't make this stuff up. It's a must read, if only for Berendt's fluid storytelling and compelling character portraits.
No list today...but next time, in honor of my trip to the beach, I'll have a list of my favorite beach reads. Until then, Happy Reading!
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