 | | |
| Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | 
 enlarge | Author: John Berendt
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $0.01
You Save: $14.94 (100%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  (493 reviews)
Sales Rank: 7266
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0679751521
Dewey Decimal Number: 975.8724
EAN: 9780679751526
ASIN: 0679751521
Publication Date: June 28, 1999
Release Date: June 28, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Fine read, but what the fuss about? September 4, 2008
I enjoyed "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," John Berendt's 1999 blockbuster about the underside of Savannah's genteel lifestyle. But though I enjoyed the story and the characters, I'm not entirely sure why it took off as it did to top the NYT Bestseller list for 200 weeks.
The story is lots of fun and kept me engaged till the end. The story is narrated by a New York journalist hoping to write a story about Savannah. In the first third of the book, he manages to stumble across just about every Southern type, from dueling renovators of old buildings to drag queens, to good ol' boys, to voodoo priestesses and everyone else in between. The collection of roustabouts and ragamuffins is endearing and mostly harmless. They inhabit a dreamy world of quaint customs, elaborate parties, petty rivalries and jealousies, and grand old Southern houses. Then suddenly, a character is found dead in the elegant study of another. The rest of the book traces the intricacies of the trials related to the death.
I was less impressed than some by Berendt's handling of the trials. He breezed through these, leaving out details in one in order to use them for shock value in another. His use of Chablis, the memorable drag queen, seemed added more as comic effect than anything else. Take her out of the book and the plot would not have suffered an iota -- I am *serious*, child!. One wonders whether the fascination for readers is the novelty that the book purportedly features real Savannah houses and landmarks.
"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" is a fun read that probably won't hold up as a classic. Enjoy it anyway.
 Great Read September 4, 2008
Just read the book - you can't help but enjoy the characters and the irony.
enjoyed it immensley September 2, 2008
This is a good, fast, enjoyable read, filled with a good mix of history, humor and good old-fashioned storytelling.
as if i was walking the streets of savannah August 26, 2008
having visited my son in savannah, i felt as if i was walking the streets of savannah, seeing the book unfold into the streets i walked...the book was well written, putting the reader in the middle of the story...
Somewhat hard to follow June 26, 2008
While I enjoyed reading "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," I had a hard time trying to keep track of all of the characters. While the number of characters add to the story, I found myself continually flipping back to pages to try and remember who is who. A great read, but you might want to have a pen and paper handy.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |