Rating: 
Summary: Overgrown with weeds
Review: Unless you have a real fetish for the city of Savannah, this book is just a generic tourist guide. It's nothing more than a novel of manners with themes we've all heard about before: old money against new money (Great Gatsby), the taboo of homosexuality, a high profile murder case (OJ Simpson, anyone?). There seems to be many unconnected events not connecting. The prose is flowery at best, confined by the inanities of nonfiction. Skip the book and watch the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Confused
Review: Parts of this book were good and other parts were hard to follow. It was some what confusing and i dont understand the real point of this book, i am not finshed with this book, i am on page 300 somthen and it has yet to get better. This book has no point to it. It was given to me by a friend. I read it but i would not be interested in ever reading it again. i would not give this book to just anyone. Only people i thought were boring and had nothing better to do than waste their time for 3 hours or so reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Entertaining
Review: Well-written, great characters, Southern charm & eccentricities abound. Well done!
Rating:
Summary: Wow...and this place REALLY exists....
Review: I suppose every city or town has its share of eccentrics, but to judge by "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", Savannah GA is composed of nothing but eccentrics. And John Berendt describes each and every one of them in beautiful detail.I chuckled over the story of William Simon Glover, the elderly gentleman who continues to walk a dog named Patrick for his owner, even though the dog (and, perhaps, the owner?) has been dead for twenty years. I shook my head in wonder at the story of Luther Driggs, who claims to have a container of poison "five hundred times more lethal than arsenic". And I'm still trying to get a handle on Chablis - by Berendt's account, the world's most gorgeous drag queen - as sassy and sexy as anyone born a woman could possibly be. The second half of the book is more somber in tone, dealing as it does with a murder trial that goes into quadruple overtime. The people Berendt describes in conjunction with the trial are somewhat more down to earth, but just as eccentric in their own ways as the other people he writes about. It's truly a pity that Berendt left Savannah. I really wanted to get more acquainted with his friends - but then again, I don't think he could have written much more about them without starting to repeat himself, or without starting to bore some readers. The rating of four stars is because of the more somber mood of the murder trial. This is a truly wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, Savannah Is Strange and I Love It!
Review: For two years I lived in Alabama and was amazed that life in the South was not as unsophisicated as us yankees made it out to be. True southerners drink Coca-Cola or RC but never Pepsi, they own a gun or two and they carry it with them where legally allowed, including church. They don't hide mental illness in their family, they set them out on the front porch and most importantly they are so polite when insulting you, that you never know what hit you. Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil is almost a travlogue of Savannah than a novel. It brings alive the everyday life of the people that make up this community to show us no matter how crazy we think our existance is, there are others that put us to shame. Part one of this novel, introduces the reader to the people who make up the town. Jim Williams, Sonny Sieler, UGA, The Lady Chablis, Sareena Dawes, John Odom and so on. Through their stories it allows the readers to see what this little corner of the world is all about. What might be ordinary life for these folks are rich, unusual and exciting! Part Two deals with the murder that takes place in Jim William's house and the many trials that occured following in an attempt to to pin Williams. The reader will be carefully wisked through the trials and all of the plots and sub-plots that makes Savannah a world that you want to experience for yourself. An avid reader will enjoy this novel while an inexperienced reader might have trouble with the complex story lines. In all cases, a vivid imagination will make this novel come alive with the real life characters that makes this reading enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Utterly Beguiling
Review: This is a wonderful engrossing book. You can feel, smell and taste Savannah from the pages. You will be hooked on the mystery as well - did he do it? didn't he do it? You will be inspired to visit Savannah and see all the places and people that Berendt writes of - I did and I was not disappointed. A great book.
Rating: 
Summary: Eloquently Written
Review: This book is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read. Besides being a compelling story and a wonderful description of Southern style, this book is so eloquently written, there is not one wasted word in it.
Rating:
Summary: The South Rises Again
Review: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is really two books - the first half is a present day snapshot of Savannah, Georgia, an old-style Southern city with plenty of grace and charm. The second half is the story of the murder trial(s) of Jim Williams, one of Savannah's most interesting residents. The second half is much more interesting than the first. Perhaps that is because every time Williams makes an appearance, things turn interesting very quickly. (Having seen the movie, I can't picture Williams without thinking of the remarkable Kevin Spacey). One character who draws a lot of attention in both the book and the movie is the Lady Chablis. In the movie she occupies far too much screen time - her role in the book is much more reasonable. I suppose the popularity of the Lady is due to her "exotic" nature as a drag queen, but I find her character to be pretty unremarkable - it seems faintly ridiculous to complain that she could be any ol' drag queen, but realistically, she adds nothing to the story of any substance. I wish more attention had been paid to the "occult" aspects of the story - the title seems to invite this scrutiny. The fact that an extrememly wealthy Southern man on trial for murder puts more stock in voodoo than his defense lawyers IS remarkable. I found myself wishing Berendt would have questioned Williams at length as to the reasons he chose to believe in these supernatural powers. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil does a great job of transplanting the reader into "Old South" Georgia with enough colorful characters to keep the interest level high; it's just a shame none of us will ever get invited to one of Jim Williams' Christmas Parties.
Rating:
Summary: My feeling on Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Review: Just finished reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Besides learning a lot of history about Savannah, also learned about some very interesting people living there. Really couldn't put the book down. I felt that Kevin Spacey was so perfect for the part of Jim Williams. Kevin can sometimes come across as arrogant and a bit above everyone, so he was perfect.
Rating:
Summary: A delicious travel memoir and murder mystery in one!
Review: "Midnight in the Garden of Evil" combines the best elements of a good travel book and the excitement of a murder mystery. Imagine "Under the Tuscan Sun" meets Perry Mason if you can. The leisurly pace and charming characters were delightful. Don't waste your time on the movie--the book is far superior and a different story entirely. Sit back on the porch with a glass of lemonade and enjoy!
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