Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

January 10, 1994
After discovering in the early 1980s that a super-saver fare to Savannah, Ga., cost the same as an entree in a nouvelle Manhattan restaurant, Esquire columnist Berendt spent the next eight years flitting between Savannah and New York City. The result is this collection of smart, sympathetic observations about his colorful Southern neighbors, including a jazz-playing real estate shark; a sexually adventurous art student; the Lady Chablis (` ``What was your name before that?'' I asked. ``Frank,'' she said.' ''); the gossipy Married Woman's Card Club; and an assortment of aging Southern belles. The book is also about the wealthy international antiques dealer Jim Williams, who played an active role in the historic city's restoration--and would also be tried four times for the 1981 shooting death of 21-year-old Danny Handsford, his high-energy, self-destructive house helper. The Williams trials--he died in 1990 of a heart attack at age 59--are lively matches between dueling attorneys fought with shifting evidence, and they serve as both theme and anchor to Berendt's illuminating and captivating travelogue.

The South is mysterious, with mores and conventions foreign to the hustle and transience of the North. In Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil a Northern writer who lives half the time in Savannah provides a firsthand look at these mysteries, at the charisma behind the South's particular brand of good and evil. At the heart of the book is the story of Savannah's most celebrated murder, in which an eccentric antique dealer is accused of having killed his male companion. Anthony Heald performs admirably, reading this mysterious tale in a variety of soft Southern tones. Each character's individual cadence and personality are brought to life through his skillful voice. M.B.K. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine