John Berendt

I ran across a news article about 2024 being the 30th anniversary of this book and giving some detail about it. Shortly after that a copy appeared in our Little Free Library, and some friends highly recommended it as well. Of course I had heard of the hype over it some years back, but had never gotten around to reading it. So I decided it was finally time to do that. It did not meet my expectations, which admittedly, were probably a bit higher than they should have been.

The book was alright and while I didn't find it riveting, it was somewhat entertaining, or informative at least. As all sources had indicated, it was truly more of a memoir of a particular period in Savannah society and a few of the upper crust and those who were involved with them. In covering the murder case of a troubled young man and his accused murderer, a high end antiques dealer; it managed to paint a portrait for us of Savannah in the 1970's and 80's.

The writing style was adequate and straightforward, with no frills. As the author had written magazine articles for many years, this makes perfectly good sense. That style is just what we find in the book, as well.

Events, details and descriptions were laid out matter of factly, with no pretense at suspense or complex story lines.

And so the story of Jim Williams, Danny Hansford and 8 years of jury trials, with descriptions of Savannah, and some if its inhabitants woven in, unfolds for us to its denouement.… (more)

Nonfiction books, even those covering a specific event in a specific setting, tend to be a little dull in their dry factualness. Nonfiction true crime has a tendency toward moralizing. Berendt’s story of a young man killed by his lover/employer in an isolated Georgia town avoids both. He carries the reader along with charming descriptions of the people of Savannah, who seem just like crazy characters in a Southern Gothic lit novel. But these are real people, and supposedly the stories he tells about them are real, as well, and I would get a sudden jolt when he’d slip a chilling fact in amongst the tale of some cheerful eccentricity, such as the town’s complacent acceptance of a jury letting a group of men go free because the victim they stomped to death was “just” a homosexual, or of Savannah’s extraordinarily high murder rate because the victims are mostly black, so it’s “a black problem”.

His storytelling is calculated to entertain, and he treats the town and its people with affection, but he does not refrain from telling the whole story and leaving the judgement up to the reader.

I read this book for the Twelve Tasks of the Festive Season challenge. This book was for Task the Third: The Holiday Party (Read a book where a celebration is a big part of the action), because the action in the book revolves around a series of parties and ceremonies, from the annual Christmas party given by the killer, to the never-ending house party given by the lawyer/conman, to the society ladies’ exclusive tea parties, to the midnight graveyard ceremonies conducted by the voodoo woman.… (more)