John Berendt

A sublime and seductive reading experience. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, this enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling Southern city has become a modern classic. Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and 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 and turns of a landmark murder case. It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.

John Berendt wordt op slag verliefd op Savannah, een zonnige, lommerrijke en zo op het oog rustige havenstad in het zuiden van de Verenigde Staten, waar de grandeur uit vroeger tijden is hersteld. Hij besluit zich hier voor een deel van het jaar te vestigen en leert een reeks kleurrijke excentriekelingen kennen: Jim Williams, de nouveau riche antiekhandelaar met een passie voor jongens en nazi-parafernalia; Emma Kelly, de grote zwarte vrouw bijgenaamd 'de dame van de zesduizend liedjes'; Luther Driggers, de uitvinder van de vlooienband, die voldoende gif in huis heeft om de hele bevolking om te brengen; Lady Chablis, de luidruchtige, zwarte transseksueel en Joe Odom, pianist, jurist, bareigenaar en vooral 'handige jongen'. De stad wordt opgeschrikt als Jim Williams 'uit zelfverdediging' zijn aantrekkelijke, maar lastige protégé neerschiet. Voor het eerst in de geschiedenis van Savannah, waar dergelijke zaken altijd onderling en netjes 'geregeld' worden, wordt een man vier keer voor dezelfde moord aangeklaagd. Hij zoekt niet alleen hulp van dure advocaten, maar ook van de voodoo-priesteres Minerva. Echter, wie de bal kaatst en de medewerking van bovennatuurlijke krachten inroept, moet hem terug verwachten...

Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt interweaves a first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case. The story is peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproarious black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.

This book tells a true story of intrigue, murder, forgery and eccentricity set in the steamy, surreal atmosphere of Savannah, Georgia.

Traces the aftermath of the 1996 Venice opera house fire, an event that devastated Venetian society and was investigated by the author, who through interviews with such locals as a suicidal poet, a surrealist painter, and a master glassblower learned about the region's rich cultural history. By the author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. 700,000 first printing.