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| Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | |
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 The cover of the 1994 novel, which features the Bird Girl sculpture. |
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| Author | John Berendt |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Nonfiction novel |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publication date | January 1994 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 400 pp |
| ISBN | 0-679-42922-0 |
| OCLC Number | 27975809 |
| Dewey Decimal | 975.8/724 20 |
| LC Classification | F294.S2 B48 1994 |
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a work by John Berendt. The book was Berendt's first, and became a The New York Times bestseller for 216 weeks following its debut.[1]
The book was subsequently made into a 1997 movie directed by Clint Eastwood based loosely on Berendt's story.
Contents |
The book
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is atmospheric and Southern Gothic in tone, depicting a wide range of eccentric Savannah personalities.
The action that serves as a catalyst in the book is the killing of Danny Hansford, a local hustler (characterized as "a good time not yet had by all") by respected antique dealer Jim Williams. Four murder trials resulted, with the final one ending in acquittal after the judge finally agreed to having the case moved away from the Savannah jury pool. The book characterizes the killing as the result of a lover's quarrel, not a pre-meditated murder. The death took place in Williams's home, originally built by an ancestor of songwriter and Savannah native Johnny Mercer.
The book also highlights many other residents of Savannah, most notably The Lady Chablis, a local drag queen and entertainer. Chablis provides both a Greek chorus of sorts as well as a lighthearted contrast to the more serious action.
The book's plot is based on real-life events that occurred in the 1980s and is classified as nonfiction. Because it reads like a novel, it is sometimes referred to as a "nonfiction novel," a subgenre popularized by Truman Capote and Norman Mailer. (Booksellers generally feature the title in the "true crime" subsection.) It is among the most popular nonfiction releases of all time.
The title alludes to the hoodoo notion of "midnight"; the period between the time for good magic and the time for evil magic; in "the garden of good and evil," which refers principally to Bonaventure Cemetery.
The famous Bird Girl statue, originally designed both as art and as a birdseed holder, was originally located at Bonaventure. A Savannah photographer, Jack Leigh, was commissioned to take a photograph for the cover of the book and created his now famous photograph of the statue. The Bird Girl was relocated in 1997 for display in the Telfair Museum in Savannah.
Subjective elements
While the author contends that the essence of the book is true, and the events did occur, much of the book's text is highly subjective. Berendt himself makes this clear in the Author's Word, which appears at the end of the book.
Berendt actually came to Savannah a year after the crime occurred and met Jim Williams in prison after Williams's second conviction. This is substantially different from the opening half of the text, in which Berendt presents himself as a central character introduced into the story as it happens. The narrative has Berendt depicting himself as present during conversations that he could never have heard. Many of the incidents and people are indeed based in reality, but much of the book has been restructured or fictionalized for effect.
Awards
The book won the 1995 Boeke Prize.
Film
See also
- The City of Falling Angels is John Berendt's second book.
References
External links
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