Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published on January 10, 1994,[1] and follows the story of Jim Williams, an antiques dealer on trial for the shooting death of Danny Hansford. Subtitled A Savannah Story, with an initial printing of 25,000 copies,[2] the book became a New York Times Best-Seller for 216 weeks following its debut and remains one of the longest-standing New York Times Best-Sellers.[3]
Berendt combined self-witnessed experiences during his time living in Savannah (roughly four years after the shooting) with stories from the preceding years recounted to him by locals; he catches up with proceedings around the book's mid-point. Williams was a free man during Berendt's five years in Savannah. The author, who created the fictional author John Kelso to represent himself, took some liberties with his writing, including creating a relationship between Joe Odom and Nancy Hillis.
The book was adapted for Clint Eastwood's 1997 film, with several characters' names changed to protect their privacy or privacy. Maybe to "protect the innocent," said Sonny Seiler, Williams's attorney. "Well, I don't know how innocent they were, but he didn't change any of the facts."[4]John Lee Hancock wrote the screenplay, after Berendt favored his script over that of Alfred Uhry.[5]
Background
Berendt gave the finished manuscript to his agent, who enjoyed it but said it was "too local" and that no publisher would take a chance on it. She gave the manuscript back to Berendt, who found another agent. Within a week, she had four major publishers bidding for it. Random House were the successful bidders.[6] It was published in January 1994, fourteen months after Berendt finished writing it.[7] They did not change a word of the manuscript.[8]
The central narrative concerns the shooting of Danny Hansford, a local male prostitute, characterized as "a good time not yet had by all" by Prentiss Crowe, a Savannah socialite. The perpetrator was respected antiques dealer Jim Williams, who was also his employer and casual sexual partner. Hansford's death resulted in four murder trials, with the final one ending in acquittal after the judge finally agreed to a change of venue to move the case away from the Savannah jury pool. The book describes Williams' version of the killing, which is that it was in "self-defense"—the result of Hansford, who was prone to fits of rage, shooting at Williams with a gun that was on display, and Williams shooting back to protect himself—and not murder, pre-meditated or otherwise, by Williams. The death occurred in Williams' Mercer House home, the ground floor of which is now a museum.[2]
The book highlights many other notable Savannah residents, including The Lady Chablis, a local transgender woman, club performer, and entertainer. Chablis provides both a Greek chorus of sorts as well as a light-hearted contrast to the more serious action. Chablis was given a dedicated chapter, as was Emma Kelly, the "Lady of 6,000 Songs."[2]
Characters and events
The book's plot is based on real-life events that occurred in the 1980s and is classified as non-fiction. Because it reads like a novel (and rearranges the sequence of true events in time), it is sometimes referred to as a "non-fiction novel."
Mercer House. The alleged murder of Danny Hansford occurred in Williams' study – the bottom left room in this photograph. The house is now known as the Mercer Williams House Museum
Although the book's timeline is set to coincide with the entire saga of Jim Williams' arrest and four trials for murder, in reality Berendt did not meet Williams for the first time until March 1982[9] — six weeks after the millionaire had been convicted of murder and released pending appeal. Two years later, after Berendt had decided he wanted to write a book, Williams agreed to be interviewed by Berendt in jail. "I might be interested in cooperating with you," he told Berendt. "I really want my story out." Berendt flew down to Savannah. "Jim actually saw very few people in jail. He didn't like to be in such reduced circumstances. He always wanted to be on his own turf, where he could entertain people, and control people."[9]
Berendt did not move to Savannah to collect material for his book until 1985 — after Williams' second conviction. Berendt attended the third and fourth trials.[10] Williams was a free man and living in Mercer House during Berendt's five years in Savannah.[2][9] "He was available to me and very cooperative," Berendt said in 2015.[9]
"When I started the book, I knew about the shooting," said Berendt. "It did not happen in the middle of my being there. But I moved it to the middle of the book so that you could meet everybody in Savannah and get to know Savannah before this shocking event happened."[7][9]
"The only fictional character in the book is the narrator, me, until I catch up with myself midway through the book," Berendt said in 1995. "I felt that was a legitimate license to take. The book is 99 percent true and 1 percent exaggeration."[11]
In the first chapter, Berendt and Williams are interrupted by Hansford's screaming entrance; this happened prior to Williams and Berendt's first meeting in 1982.[7] "Jim was having drinks with somebody else," explains Berendt. "Jim told me about it and so did somebody else. So I reconstructed it, put myself in there. The first evening in Mercer House is a combination of a lot of stories he told me. Then afterward, I meet all these people — Joe Odom, Chablis, Lee Adler. I met all these people, obviously, after the murder, but they don't impact the murder at all, so I simply put them right after my meeting with Jim, and it seems as though I met them before the shooting and I didn't, but so what? All of those meetings with people were actual meetings. They took place in '85 or later, and they are pretty much verbatim what happened with those people and me."[2]
Jim Williams' confession to Berendt before the third trial was recorded on a Dictaphone by the author. "If [Williams] had not died, I don't know what I would have done, because I'm pretty sure he would not have wanted that in the book."[12]
Lee Adler initially shunned Berendt after the book's release, claiming he was misrepresented. "At first he wouldn't talk to me; now, he shakes my hand," said Berendt.[7]
Nancy Hillis, who appears as Mandy Nichols, later explained that, contrary to Berendt's portrayal of her, she did not meet Joe Odom until he had moved from 16 East Jones Street to 101 East Oglethorpe Avenue. She also clarified that there was no romantic relationship between her and Odom, largely because Odom was gay.[2]
The person represented by Serena Dawes (based on Helen Avis Drexel)[13] died in 1974, over twenty years before the book's release.[2]
Regarding the high number of eccentric characters in Savannah, Berendt's belief is that it is because gossip was so important during his time in the city. "People in Savannah gossip more than anywhere else," he said. "What do people gossip about? Other people's behavior. The stranger the behavior, the better the gossip. The person that is being gossiped about knows they are being appreciated and attempts to outdo themself on the strangeness."[7]
In 2024, Berendt stated that he believed Williams was guilty of murder.[15]
Title
The title alludes to the hoodoo notion of "midnight," the period between the time for good magic (11:30 P.M. to midnight) and the time for evil magic (midnight to 12:30 A.M.).[2]
Although Bonaventure Cemetery is the focus in the book, "the garden of good and evil" refers principally to the cemetery off Congress Street in Beaufort, South Carolina,[16] where Dr. Louis Buzzard, the husband of Minerva, the folk-magic practitioner who figures in the story, is buried. It is over his grave that Minerva performed the incantations to ensure a more successful result in the retrial for the case of Jim Williams. (The marriage between Minerva and Dr. Buzzard was the invention of John Berendt. Dr. Buzzard was based on Stephen Robinson, who died in 1947, aged 61 or 62.)[17]
Cover
The Bird Girl statue, designed both as art and as a birdseed holder, was originally located at Savannah's historic Bonaventure Cemetery. A Savannah photographer, Jack Leigh, was commissioned to take a photograph for the cover of the book. The cover image became immediately iconic, with author John Berendt calling it "one of the strongest covers I've ever seen", and the statue became a popular stop for tourists. Owing to rising concerns about the integrity of the statue and the cemetery's privacy, Bird Girl was relocated in 1997 for display in Telfair Museums in Savannah.
Legacy
In 1993, the year before the book's publication, Savannah had five million visitors,[18] who spent almost $600 million during their time in the city.[19] Two years after the book's release, Savannah was seeing a 46% increase in tourism.[2] Twenty years later, the number of visitors to the city had jumped to 12.5 million, spending $2.2 billion.[19] Joseph Marinelli, president of the Savannah Convention and Visitors Bureau, does not attribute the city's popularity growth entirely to Midnight, but that it had a significant impact.[18]
Dorothy Kingery, Jim Williams's sister, did not like the book. "She kept everything hush-hush," explained Sonny Seiler, the Williams family attorney, "but now she lets tourists go through Mercer–Williams House. But they cannot talk about the unpleasantness or what went on in that study on the first floor."[4]
Jeff Woodman recorded the audiobook version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. He stated that Berendt's effort, along with that of Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game, was the most challenging to record: "Especially because all the characters in Midnight have the same damned Savannah accent, so you can't toss in a little North Country to help differentiate them!" he said in 2010.[21]
Related Research Articles
The Lady Chablis, also known as The Grand Empress and The Doll, was an American actress, author, and transgender club performer. Through exposure in the bestselling nonfiction book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and its 1997 film adaptation, she became one of the first trans performers to be introduced to a wide audience.
John Berendt is an American author, known for writing the best-selling non-fiction book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.
Frank W. "Sonny" Seiler was an American trial attorney from Savannah, Georgia, who had a leading role in the true-crime book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. He was the owner of the University of Georgia Bulldogs live mascots Uga, a series of successively numbered English bulldogs.
Mercer House is located at 429 Bull Street in Savannah, Georgia. Completed in 1868, it occupies the southwestern civic block of Monterey Square.
James Arthur Williams was an American antiques dealer and a historic preservationist based in Savannah, Georgia. He played an active role in the preservation of the Savannah Historic District for over 35 years.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a 1997 American mystery thriller film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood and starring John Cusack and Kevin Spacey. The screenplay by John Lee Hancock was based on John Berendt's 1994 book of the same name and follows the story of antiques dealer Jim Williams, on trial for the killing of a male prostitute who was his lover. The multiple trials depicted in Berendt's book are combined into one trial for the film.
Bobby Lee Cook was an American defense attorney from Summerville, Georgia, in Chattooga County. He had practiced law since the late 1940s, and is known for combining a sharp legal mind with a folksy demeanor. He had represented a wide variety of clients, from rural Southerners to international businessmen and corporations. He was reputed to have been the inspiration for the television series Matlock main character Ben Matlock, which starred Andy Griffith as a Georgia attorney.
Emma Thompson Kelly was an American musician. Known as the "Lady of 6,000 Songs", she appeared in both John Berendt's 1994 book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and its 1997 movie adaptation.
Joseph Algerine Odom was an American attorney who later became a musician. He came to prominence after his appearance as one of the main characters in John Berendt's 1994 true-crime book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Danny Lewis Hansford was an American shooting victim who was killed by his employer, historic preservationist and antiques dealer Jim Williams, at Williams' home in Savannah, Georgia, United States. His death was recounted in John Berendt's 1994 non-fiction book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and its 1997 film adaptation. After four trials, Williams was acquitted of Hansford's murder.
The Hamilton–Turner Inn is a historic mansion in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Built in 1873, it is located at 330 Abercorn Street in the southeastern trust/civic lot of Lafayette Square. It is now a luxury inn.
Clary's Cafe is a restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Established at 404 Abercorn Street in 1903, originally as a drug store, its popularity increased markedly after its appearance in both John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil 1994 novel and Clint Eastwood's 1997 movie adaptation.
Valerie Aiken Boles was an American root doctor. She came to prominence after becoming the inspiration for one of the main characters in John Berendt's 1994 true-crime book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Abercorn Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Drayton Street to the west and Lincoln Street to the east, it runs for about 7.8 miles (12.6 km) from East Bay Street in the north to Harry S. Truman Parkway in the south. It is concurrent with SR 204 from 37th Street south. The street is named for James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn, a financial benefactor of the Georgia colony. Its northern section passes through the Savannah Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.
The Joe Odom House is a home in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is located at 16 East Jones Street and was constructed in 1847.
Helen Avis Drexel was an American silent-film actress and heiress. She rose to prominence through her appearance in the John Berendt non-fictional novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1994), in which she was a composite character named Serena Dawes.
Leopold Adler II was an American historic preservationist based in Savannah, Georgia. President of the Historic Savannah Foundation, he was instrumental in the preservation movement in his hometown.
The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd is a 1980 historical drama film directed by Paul Wendkos. Based on a true story, it revolves around the 1865 assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Dennis Weaver plays the lead role of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, who was imprisoned for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth in the killing.
The Married Woman's Card Club is an exclusive all-women society in Savannah, Georgia, established in 1893. It meets once a month, on Tuesdays at 4:00 PM.
Sweet Georgia Brown's was a piano bar in Savannah, Georgia. Located at 312 West St. Julian Street, on Franklin Square in Savannah's City Market, the bar was co-owned by musicians Joe Odom and Nancy Hillis, real-life characters in John Berendt's book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1994). "For over two years, it was the place everyone wanted to be in Savannah and everyone partied there until the wee hours," said Kathryn Gifford, a Savannah tour guide in 1997. Emma Kelly, dubbed the "Lady of 6,000 Songs" by Johnny Mercer, regularly played at the bar.
References
↑ LLC, New York Media (1994-01-17). New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. p.20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
