Reviews with content warning for Racism - Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

59 reviews

olivia_piepmeier's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious medium-paced

I first read this as a pre-teen and long regarded it as a favorite book. Twenty years later, it was a difficult read for a variety of reasons but I wanted to see it through.

It bothers me to no end that it’s considered nonfiction but the exact events as described in the book didn’t happen exactly that way. It’s written in an engaging way, so perhaps Berendt felt that altering the timeline and making up conversations that kept to the spirit of the characters/story was the way to go…but in this day and age of fact having varying definitions, I can’t deal with it.

As a southerner, though not from Georgia, it certainly captures some old fashioned ideas of what it means to be southern and “polite.” It feels very familiar in that way, particularly as this took place in the 80s and was written in the 90s. I grew up with these people. Savannah is unique, there’s no doubting that, but still the southern status quo feels a little universal. Also, it’s problematic AF. It’s almost funny how problematic it is and thinking of how long it was on the best seller list. The reach this book got. Whew. Just affirming racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia (though it seems like Berendt did like Chablis). For better or worse, this is a product of it’s time. I rather dislike how much I loved this book at such an impressionable age.

For these reasons, I’d have difficulty suggesting it to someone whole heartedly unless they were very interested in Savannah and/or murder trials.

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corriejn's review against another edition

4.25

informative mysterious medium-paced

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novelsandbottles's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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maggiefilgo's review against another edition

3.5

slow-paced

literally i was so bored halfway through. i came in wanting true crime and was met with a portrait of savannah, georgia. granted, i know more than i did about savannah. but like jesus.

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ash0831's review against another edition

3.0

informative mysterious slow-paced

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laurenleigh's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous relaxing slow-paced

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil certainly gets points for one of the coolest titles. I almost can’t believe this book is non-fiction. These characters are larger than life. They almost cross the line into caricature at times. It makes me wonder if any truths were exaggerated or embellished for dramatic effect. This brings into question how much trust we place in an author, especially a non-fiction author. Did Berendt’s outsider status help him see Savannah, GA and its inhabitants more clearly? Though I enjoyed this overall, I’m annoyed at the elements of racism, classism, and transphobia. Some of it is just language that’s aged out (it feels dehumanizing to constantly call the Black community just “Blacks”), but other points are just Berendt being a privileged white dude uncomfortable imagining life outside the status quo. When someone explains those runners are an interracial couple that pretends not to know each other, he blindly accepts this. No questions at all. When a report comes out about Savannah’s high murder rate, he quickly blames it on the Black population with little discussion of how economic and social disadvantages are at play. The most cringeworthy parts were his treatment of Lady Chablis, especially at the end during the cotillion. I’m glad that this book helped Lady Chablis gain attention, because she sounds absolutely incredible, but ugh the transphobic language was tough to read.

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zorak1996's review against another edition

4.5

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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meresand's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 45%

I just didn't find the author's point of view interesting, and I made it nearly halfway through the book without even touching on the murder plot that was supposedly the main plot of the story. Moved too slow without any hint or setup of what was to come so I didn't feel the need to keep slogging through the awkward interactions the author describes.

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kodiex's review against another edition

4.0

dark funny informative mysterious medium-paced

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