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A review by anna_hepworth
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Did not finish book. Stopped at 27%.
So, I was not entirely sure that this book was for me at the outset, when it was labelled 'a non-fiction novel', or some other malarkey. What I wasn't expecting was that the narrative voice would dislike all the characters, and yet not pass judgment on racism, dubious use of nazi paraphenalia / memorabilia (and yes, it was called memorabilia, and I should have stopped at that point), or the ongoing destruction caused by a conman.
I could put up with the rambling narrative, with each chapter only loosely linked to the others. I probably could have dealt with the range of shady characters. I could accept the implied level of self-loathing of the narrator, even if it made me decidedly uncomfortable.
But the ongoing racism was starting to wear, and the introduction of Chablis, who is both Black and trans was the point that I was asking myself why I was reading this. Up to a point, Chablis was entirely plausible. But referring to their cis female friend as a 'real girl' and then presenting attitudes to Black men as angry and violent made me realise that I had no desire to be reading this story, and 'realism' (or whatever the descriptor was) be damned, this book wasn't worth reading.
I could put up with the rambling narrative, with each chapter only loosely linked to the others. I probably could have dealt with the range of shady characters. I could accept the implied level of self-loathing of the narrator, even if it made me decidedly uncomfortable.
But the ongoing racism was starting to wear, and the introduction of Chablis, who is both Black and trans was the point that I was asking myself why I was reading this. Up to a point, Chablis was entirely plausible. But referring to their cis female friend as a 'real girl' and then presenting attitudes to Black men as angry and violent made me realise that I had no desire to be reading this story, and 'realism' (or whatever the descriptor was) be damned, this book wasn't worth reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs
Moderate: Transphobia and Gun violence