Personally, I wasn't as into nonfiction…until I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt. Okay, okay I know the title is a mouthful, but trust me it’s a tasty bite.
Midnight in the Garden...gives the first person account of a journalist's visit to the city of Savannah. During his visit, a crime occurred that featured some of the best characters to make it on the page. Gunshots rang out in Savannah’s grandest mansion, the Mercer House, leaving a redneck gigolo lying dead on the carpet and an aristocrat standing alive behind a desk…with the death-dealing weapon. That’s all it takes to set Savannah afire with speculation and gossip; was it murder or self-defense?
As everyone has their bits of information about the two men, and new information surfaces everyday, that question becomes a little more difficult to answer. But with a little voodoo and a little faith, will the answer become clearer?
All of the nonfiction I’d read before Midnight in the Garden… was reduced to school textbooks. The rebellious girl in me hates required reading stuff. But…I also love John Cusack, who starred in the movie based on this book. Yes, I’m one of those people who sometimes finds out about books because I saw the movie; I admit it. In defense, I have found some great books to read (that were better than the movie). The fantastic writing sometimes makes you forget that you’re reading a work of nonfiction. John Berendt says it best in his introduction for the new edition of the book,
“For the first edition of this book, I wrote an author’s note explaining that Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a work of nonfiction. My note appeared at the end of the book, as it does in this edition, rather than at the beginning, with the result that quite a few readers got halfway though – and some even came to the end – before they discovered they had been reading journalism, not fiction.”
The movie is actually great itself and features one of the actual ‘characters’ from the book! (Not to mention John Cusack <3) I hope you enjoy reading!
Midnight in the Garden...gives the first person account of a journalist's visit to the city of Savannah. During his visit, a crime occurred that featured some of the best characters to make it on the page. Gunshots rang out in Savannah’s grandest mansion, the Mercer House, leaving a redneck gigolo lying dead on the carpet and an aristocrat standing alive behind a desk…with the death-dealing weapon. That’s all it takes to set Savannah afire with speculation and gossip; was it murder or self-defense?
As everyone has their bits of information about the two men, and new information surfaces everyday, that question becomes a little more difficult to answer. But with a little voodoo and a little faith, will the answer become clearer?
All of the nonfiction I’d read before Midnight in the Garden… was reduced to school textbooks. The rebellious girl in me hates required reading stuff. But…I also love John Cusack, who starred in the movie based on this book. Yes, I’m one of those people who sometimes finds out about books because I saw the movie; I admit it. In defense, I have found some great books to read (that were better than the movie). The fantastic writing sometimes makes you forget that you’re reading a work of nonfiction. John Berendt says it best in his introduction for the new edition of the book,
“For the first edition of this book, I wrote an author’s note explaining that Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a work of nonfiction. My note appeared at the end of the book, as it does in this edition, rather than at the beginning, with the result that quite a few readers got halfway though – and some even came to the end – before they discovered they had been reading journalism, not fiction.”
The movie is actually great itself and features one of the actual ‘characters’ from the book! (Not to mention John Cusack <3) I hope you enjoy reading!
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