Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a richly atmospheric non‑fiction narrative that blends true crime, Southern gothic, and character portraiture in the city of Savannah, Georgia. At its core is the 1981 shooting of Danny Hansford by antiques dealer Jim Williams and the legal and social aftermath that unfolds over several trials. Interwoven with the central case are vivid depictions of Savannah’s eccentric residents, from high‑society ladies to drag performers and voodoo practitioners, creating a tapestry of beauty, intrigue, and moral ambiguity where boundaries between good and evil blur against the moss‑draped squares and historic streets of the Old South.
About the Author
John Berendt (born 1939) is an American author best known for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which became a long‑running New York Times bestseller and a cultural phenomenon. After studying English at Harvard University and working in journalism and magazine editing (including at Esquire and New York magazine), Berendt spent several years living in Savannah researching this book. His narrative technique blends immersive non‑fiction with vivid character sketches, capturing both a central true‑crime event and the quirky, layered social fabric of an iconic Southern city. Midnight was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction and remains his most celebrated work.
