Micro-Review #92: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

by John Berendt

No new reviews lately. Life intruded, including a trip to the South, which featured a stop in Savannah, Georgia, at the house where the majority of this 1994 “non-fiction novel” is set. The story centers around the shooting of a male prostitute by a high-society antique dealer. The mystery and the crime’s aftermath are compelling enough, but the book is a treasure trove of eccentric southern characters, including a transgender burlesque queen, a folk-magic root doctor and a local man who walks an invisible dog and suggests he might one day poison the town’s water supply. The depictions of old-world Savannah butting up against the modern times are priceless—and the book is an absolute joy to read. Reviewed on Aug. 8, 2022

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