MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL - by John Berendt
Schedule
Tue Jul 16 2024 at 07:00 pm
UTC-05:00Location
Center on Halsted | Chicago, IL
HAPPY 4th! Join us to Discuss our Monthly Book in July and to join us at our ...𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝗹 𝟮𝟳: In conjunction with our July 16 book, we're having a group outing of anyone who wants to join us on 𝗦𝗮𝘁. 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟳 (𝟲𝗽𝗺 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝗽, 𝟳:𝟯𝟬𝗽𝗺 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄) at 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗴𝗼'𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 for the 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. We will meet for a drink and chat beforehand at about 6pm, probably at the bar at Goodman. You’ll need to 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 for what seating you prefer: www.goodman/midnight)
---- Amazon = 4.4 / Goodreads = 3.9 (over 271K ratings) ----
--- NYT Bestseller, Lammy Award, Pulitzer Nominee ----
AN ENGAGING 𝗕𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚, 𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗-𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗧 OF A BEGUILING 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬 WITH THE TWISTS & TURNS OF A LANDMARK 𝗚𝗔𝗬 𝗠𝗨𝗥𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗘 & A GALLERY OF 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦.
- - - - - Edmund White, author of 𝘈 𝘉𝘰𝘺'𝘴 𝘖𝘸𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 (which we read) - - - - -
“𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 ... 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 In Cold Blood 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙩 - 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘷𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘰, 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 & 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮."
SUMMARY: Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it 𝗺𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲? John Berendt's 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱, 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 & 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆 narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the 𝗢𝗹𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 with the unpredictable twists & turns of a landmark murder case.
It's a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters who act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities & intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else: Savannah's 𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘃𝗲𝗮𝘂 𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲, 𝗴𝗮𝘆, acerbic & arrogant antiques dealer accused of murder; who gives elegant parties at his showplace home, Mercer House, where in the study he shot 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁-𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲, with whom he had a 𝟮-𝘆𝗿. 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽; the uproariously funny black drag queen (𝗟𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀); & the turbulent young redneck gigolo.
Rounding out the cast of colorful characters there's the sweet-talking, piano-playing 𝗰𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴; 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; the well-bred 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 of the Married Woman's Card Club; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could K*ll everyone in Savannah; the aging & 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; & the 𝘃𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘀 who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight.
𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, the period between the time for 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 & the time for 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰. This is a sublime, seductive, brilliantly conceived, enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling Southern city, culture & story, certain to become a 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰. It will make you want to book a 𝗯𝗲𝗱 & 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 for an extended weekend at the scene of the "crime?"
- - - - - Booklist - - - - -
"A wonderfully 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘁𝗹𝗲 & 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 story of life in Savannah during the 80s, 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 in that its plot centers on a murder which Berendt takes his sweet time getting around to, allowing us to be surprised 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗱."
[free, no RSVP needed, just come & we'll welcome you in! Bring vax card, mask optional]
