An easy read, well written, it's described as "narrative nonfiction".
I was motivated to read it, as I will make a short visit to Savannah soon, but this book really wasn't my cup of tea. I often felt like I was reading a gossip column. I don't think I would have finished it if I weren't planning to visit the city. I read in an interview with the author that it has sold 5 million copies, and been translated to many languages, so I think i'm in the minority here. Hope you enjoy it. ( )

There are five million reviews out there. All I really remember is that I liked this book but wasn't blown away by it. ( )

Gossip cleverly disguised as commentary upon the citizens of Savannah, Georgia. Mmm, good. ( )

Coming back to this 20+ years later, appreciate the honesty & this would never get published in todays PC world ( )

My RLBG met today and discussed Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. We read it mostly because it was part of a book group pack that we could check out to make sure everyone had access to a book. It was a reread for me although I couldn't have told you much about it other than it focused on a sensational murder in Savannah. I did reread it and all the quirkiness came back but I found myself skimming a bit. My book group mostly hated it with one woman not getting past the first half. I think the story was sensational at the time and Berendt took advantage of that to write a gossipy, offbeat tale of Savannah. But, somehow it just hasn't worn well, maybe it's because the sensationalism has worn off and the story wasn't all that interesting to start with.

We did discover that Lady Chablis, the drag queen featured in the book, wrote an autobiography called Hiding My Candy: The Autobiography of the Grand Empress of Savannah. Berendt wrote the introduction. ( )