John Berendt Books

Genteel society ladies who compare notes on their husbands' suicides. A hilariously foul-mouthed black drag queen. A voodoo priestess who works her roots in the graveyard at midnight. A morose inventor who owns a bottle of poison powerful enough to kill everyone in town. A prominent antiques dealer who hangs a Nazi flag from his window to disrupt the shooting of a movie. And a redneck gigolo whose conquests describe him as a 'walking streak of sex'. These are some of the real residents of Savannah, Georgia, a city whose eccentric mores are unerringly observed - and whose dirty linen is gleefully aired - in this utterly irresistible book. At once a true-crime murder story and a hugely entertaining and deliciously perverse travelogue, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is as bracing and intoxicating as half-a-dozen mint juleps.

Published for the first time in flipback - the new, portable, stylish format that's taken Europe by storm. Genteel society ladies who compare notes on their husbands' suicides. A hilariously foul-mouthed black drag queen. A voodoo priestess who works her roots in the graveyard at midnight. A morose inventor who owns a bottle of poison powerful enough to kill everyone in town. A prominent antiques dealer who hangs a Nazi flag from his window to disrupt the shooting of a movie. And a redneck gigolo whose conquests describe him as a 'walking streak of sex'. These are some of the real residents of Savannah, Georgia, a city whose eccentric mores are unerringly observed - and whose dirty linen is gleefully aired - in this utterly irresistible book. At once a true-crime murder story and a hugely entertaining and deliciously perverse travelogue, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is as bracing and intoxicating as half-a-dozen mint juleps.

In charming, beautiful, and wealthy old-South Savannah, Georgia, the local bad boy is shot dead inside of the opulent mansion of a gay antiques dealer, and a gripping trial follows

Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion on the misty morning of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath echoed throughout this hauntingly beautiful city. The narrative is a sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty account that reads like a novel, yet is rooted in nonfiction. The author skillfully weaves a captivating first-person perspective of life in this remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists of a landmark murder case. The story features a remarkable cast of characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; a turbulent young gigolo; a recluse with a deadly bottle of poison; an aging Southern belle steeped in self-absorption; a hilarious black drag queen; an acerbic antiques dealer; a sweet-talking con artist; young blacks at the debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic at midnight. These Savannahians form a Greek chorus, revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues in a town where everyone knows everyone. This sublime and seductive reading experience offers an engaging portrait of a beguiling Southern city, destined to become a modern classic.

A mystery, a comedy, and a riveting human drama rolled into one, from the bestselling author of MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL

Author John Berendt chronicles the lives of baby blue jays after he notices a nest outside his office window and follows their lives from eggs to hatchlings to full grown birds.