John Berendt

Not to be confused withJohn Berndt.

John Berendt
Born	(1939-12-05)5 December 1939 Syracuse, New York,US
Occupation	Author
Alma mater	Harvard University
Period	1961–present
Genre	non-fiction

John Berendt(born December 5, 1939) is an American author, known for writing the best-selling non-fiction bookMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,which was a finalist for the 1995Pulitzer Prizein General Nonfiction.

Early life

Berendt grew up inSyracuse, New York,where both of his parents were writers.As an English major atHarvard University,he worked on the staff of theHarvard Lampoon.He graduated in 1961 and moved to New York City to pursue a journalism career.

Career

Upon moving to Savannah, Berendt lived in a carriage house behind 22 East Jones Street

Berendt was an associate editor ofEsquirefrom 1961 to 1969, editor ofNew Yorkmagazine from 1977 to 1979, and a columnist forEsquirefrom 1982 to 1994.Despite interviewingJim Williams,the central character inMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,in 1982, it was not until 1985 that Berendt moved toSavannah, Georgia,to begin researching a new book, which was seven years in the making.(The killing ofDanny Hansford,which is the book's central story, happened the year preceding Berendt's first visit, while Williams had been convicted of murder for a second time at the point of his return.)His initial plan was to spend three weeks at a time in Savannah, then return to New York City to write, but he changed his mind. "Things would happen if I was simply there," he said in 1997. "It made sense to stay, so I got a full-time apartment in Savannah." He lived, briefly, in acarriage houseon East Charlton Lane,behind 22East Jones Street.

External videos
Booknotesinterview with Berendt onMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,August 28, 1997,C-SPAN

He publishedMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evilin 1994, and it became an overnight success. The book spent a record-breaking 216 weeks on theNew York Timesbestseller list— still, to this day, the longest-standing best seller of theTimes.

The story, unsettling and real, broke down the idea of the quintessential phenomenon of a true American city—only to reveal its quirks: its man walking an invisible dog; its voice of the drag queen; a high-society man in its elite community—all that somehow, unravels a murder mystery. Virtually seeming like a novel and reading like a tale, the non-fictional story is about the real-life events surrounding the murder trial of Jim Williams.Berendt acknowledged that he fabricated some scenes and changed the sequence of some events.The book was adapted into a1997 filmdirected byClint Eastwood.John Cusackplays John Kelso, a character loosely based on Berendt.

Berendt's second book,The City of Falling Angels,was published in September 2005.It chronicles interwoven lives inVenicein the aftermath of the fire that destroyed theLa Feniceopera house. According toKirkus Reviews,"Berendt does great justice to an exalted city that has rightly fascinated the likes ofHenry James,Robert Browning,and many filmmakers throughout the world. "

In 2024, aged 84, he returned to Savannah, for his first speaking engagement in sixteen years, to sign copies of a 30th-anniversary edition ofMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Further reading

Archival resources

• Esquire, Inc. Records 1933–1977(26 linear feet) are housed at the Bentley Library at theUniversity of Michigan.Contains correspondence with John Berendt.
• Larry McMurtry Collection, 1960–1976(2.52 linear feet) is housed at theHarry Ransom Humanities Research Centerof theUniversity of Texas at Austin.Contains correspondence with John Berendt.

External links

• AppearancesonC-SPAN