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laurenleigh's review
adventurous
relaxing
slow-paced
3.5
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Transphobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Slavery
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