Rating: 
Summary: See the movie.
Review: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt, was a very enjoyable book. It's a very interesting story of the time a man spent in Savannah, Georgia, and all of the unique people he met and things he did. This book always kept me wanting to read more to find out who he was going to meet next. I would suggest this book to anyone who likes to read about ways of living and good descriptions of other places.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent, but not a best-seller. . .
Review: After reading this novel for my Advanced Contemporary Literature class, I feel a little cheated. I have heard from so many people how good the book is and about its longevity on the best-seller list. I was prepared to read a "spellbinding story" and after finishing I was left very unsatisfied. What appeared from the beginning to be a book of short stories about Savannah ended in confusion without a conclusion. Immediately after finishing I had to figure out what it was I had actually read. I understand the value of the book; it was nonfiction and fluidly dramatic. I had concerns about the point of the novel. Why was this book written? It seems to serve no purpose but to catalog a series of happenings in an isolated southern town. Berendt did achieve success in making the point that the town is full of extreme people with extreme personalities due to their isolation from the rest of the world. I see no loftier purpose by the author to write the book other than to rake in a substancial amount of money which he has done so. It would be nice if the publisher could come out with the paperback version, but why change the potion in the middle of the spell?
Rating:
Summary: The first chapter interesting but "down hill" after that.
Review: I was very disappointed in the book. I started to read it with anticipation but very soon realized it was to me very trite and boring. Most of the characters were absolutly uninteresting people, none with any redeeming features and they did not seem to be people one would want to spend any time with at all. That the author allegedly spent so much time with them was a surprise. I stuck with it hoping there would finally be something in it to justify its popularity but it only proved to be a major disappontment. There are so many good books well written and thought out that it seems a shame to waste one's time on this one. I have read every Pulitzer Prize winner written in the last 20 years, fiction and non- fiction, and I am sure this one will receive no such award. Granted that characters in a book do not have to be "good" people but they should be interesting. Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" was about evil men but beautifully written. At least to me, "Midnight" was not.
Rating:
Summary: discrimination in Savanah
Review: Exclusivity in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"
In "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," John Berendt paints a picture of Savannah, which on the surface looks multi-cultural and socially just, but is actually only a façade.
The city itself is heavily segregated. The Victorian district is an example of how multi-culturalism in Savannah is just a cheep façade, thrown up over the pre-existing cheap exclusionary structure. The houses are run down and high-maintenance, but are used as low-income housing, as it makes the Adlers' look more socially conscious than they actually are. They even have their own debutante ball, which no one will go to as there is such a social stigma associated with it.
The segregation doesn't stop with Blacks, it spills over on the Jews as well. At the Oglethorpe Club, they pride themselves on the fact they have no Blacks, but Jews at their club. One might think this is at least a step in the right direction, but no. They only reason they have their ONE Jew at the club, is that he is the first white man born in Georgia. This fact only compounds the de facto segregation. of upper echelon Savannah society.
But their segregation doesn't stop at minorities, it even extends to members of their own race and religion, if don't have money or haven't had it long enough, you aren't a full fledged member of Savannah society. When Jim Williams made his fortune, it took him a long time for him to be recognized as a full-fledged member of the aristocracy of southern culture.
As you can see, Berendt does a good job of showing the reader the side of Savannah that they show the world: The beautiful house, full of beautiful, politically correct people who include everybody?Then shows you the servants entrance around back where everyone else is allowed to enter.
Rating: 
Summary: midnight in the garden of good and evil
Review: I felt that this book was very spell binding. I the way everything was described was unreal. I have never been so motivated to read a book before, I just couldn't put the book down. John Berendt creates the feeling that you know everyone in the town. The only difficulty I encountered with the book was not knowing at first who the narrator was. It wasn't until somewhile in the book I realized that it was John. However, I felt that this was an excellent book and that everyone should go and read it. I still am a little confused one what the statue has to do with the story, but maybe that is another mystery in itself.
Rating:
Summary: So many reviews, so many different opinions
Review: I read the book. It was a gift so I don't have to complain about spending $20. I enjoyed it. I passed it on to friends. They enjoyed it. Why are so many people complaining that there's no plot? It isn't a novel. It transported me to another place, another time. Some chapters were better than others, as in most books. So what? The book made John Berendt rich and famous, also the city of Savannah. People who complain about the cost of a book should go to the public library.
Rating: 
Summary: WASTE OF MY TIME AND ENERGY. . .
Review: I heard such great things about this book- so how could I not read it? Very easily, if I knew what I was getting myself into. I did not enjoy it for one second. I am not in the habit of starting books and not finishing them, and this was no exception but I read it, very sluggishly, just to get to the end so I could put it down. Nothing about it was enjoyable- nothing!
Rating:
Summary: So moving, I couldn't put it down!
Review: Never before has a book actually lifted me from my residence and rooted me right into the soul of another city. I actually could feel myself in the town squares, the Savannahanians homes and amongst the characters. John Berendt painted a truly remarkable portrait of this self-isolated city.
Rating: 
Summary: Is it true crime or a personal memoir?
Review: In his novel In The Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt uses a first-person narrative to convey to his readers what happen to him in a small Geogia town, Savannah. While this recap includes a crime and is somewhat interesting, it does raise the question of whether or not this novel is actually a true crime novel, as it claims to be, or rather just another personal account of his life for this eight year period?
Berendt does not dispute the fact that his novel has falsities in it, such as the way in which Berendt learns about the murder. This ties the whole novel together because there is no dening that the first half of the book is just a personal narrative on his life and the second half is somewhat like that, however it has the murder as a backdrop.
I have no problem with the fact that he mostly only uses the murder as a lesser part of his story, however, why is it considered true crime? The murder almost serves to further Berendt's social status in the novel more than it serves as a basis for his writings. Also, there is the problem of the untrue events that happen in the book, but did not happen in real life.
The novel is no doubt entertaining, however, its classification bothers me greatly. It can not be ranked with other great true crime novels, because it simply is not and as far as a personal memoir story, it is not one of the best on the market.
Rating:
Summary: A huge waste of my time!
Review: One of my teachers gave me this book to read because she was bored with it. I thought it would be a great book because of all I'd heard, BOY WAS I WRONG! I hate this book, I wish I hadn't wasted my time.
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