Talk:Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

message: Hey so this section basically says "the novel was published and then in the next few years tourism increased." This seems like a pretty undeveloped idea. I'm pretty sure it's trying to imply that tourism went up because of the book, though I really have no idea if that's true. If you look at  the timeline of Savannah Georgia here on wikipedia it says that an international airport terminal opened in the city. I don't know if that's enough to account for the increase in tourism, but it's at least a possible alternative consideration.--108.36.87.136 (talk) 19:08, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Both claims are sourced, so I’m not seeing that there’s a problem. Seasider53 (talk) 00:57, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: Legacy Section

message: I'm pretty sure that the Bird Girl statue was moved to the Telfair Museum in Savannah long before 2005. I just watched a documentary that was filmed in the mid-1990s, and it referred to the Bird Girl statue being moved there. Newager 10:10, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Bird Girl Statue move

message: Article text & tags contradict as to year of book: '94 & '96; perhaps this is due to the HC & PB editions, which IIRC were well over the usual 12 months apart. Even so, if BP date is mentioned, it needs to be clearly labelled. (IMDb does confirm '97 for the film.)--Jerzy•t 05:50, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dates 

message: I made some minor revisions to the article - just regrouping some statements that were already here. 
I did notice a section labeled "Critics" but it only spoke of the film. I expanded that section and retitled it "Film".
Is it just me, or does anyone else think there should be two articles - one for the book and one for the film? I think there is enough specific information for both to merit two articles. See Mommie Dearest and Mommie Dearest (film) for an example of what I mean....Thanks. NickBurns 18:11, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article split?

message: (Not sure how to describe what i'm taking issue with, but i'll try.) I think this article needs more 'background'. That is, it kind of jumps right into things without giving any context or anything. For example, see this paragraph:
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (referred to by locals as, simply, "The Book") is atmospheric and Southern Gothic in tone, depicting a wide range of eccentric Savannah personalities.
First of all, the 'referred to by locals' part is pretty confusing. No geography is mentioned or alluded to in any of the text leading up to this statement, leaving one to wonder, 'locals of what?' How could somebody know what 'locals' is referring to when the only subject of the paragraph is a book?
'[A] wide range of eccentric Savannah personalities' suffers from a similar lack of context. As someone who lives in America i must assume that 'Savannah' is referring to the well-known city in Georgia, but i've never seen the movie or read the book, and there's nothing in the article that directly suggests that, so i don't actually know that that's the case.
Those are the two biggest problems, but overall i think the article is very sparse and does not offer enough detail to someone unfamiliar with the book. I think the synopsis, in particular, needs to be written to reflect a more 'linear' description (you know, use those essay-writing skills they teach in high school); currently it's kind of jumping all over. ~ lav-chan @ 14:20, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Being a local, I have never heard anyone refer to it as "The Book". Skiendog (talk) 00:35, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  more background 

message: Would appear that Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil is a direct duplicate of this article, and should be merged into this one.  Agreed? Fairsing 06:06, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Merge / Duplicate Article

message: The action that serves as a catalyst in the book is the killing of Danny Hansford, a local hustler (characterized as "a good time not yet had by all") by respected art dealer Jim Williams, an event which resulted in four murder trials, the final one ending in acquittal after the judge finally agreed to having the case moved away from the Savannah jury pool, and which is characterized in the book as a murder.
Isn't that a bit to much for one sentence?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.78.102.186 (talk) 13:18, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, I've broken it up now. Aleta Sing 01:36, 9 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rephrase 

message: I went to see midnight years ago. Recently I have been going to Savannah exploring and researching the charactors and such. I also read the book while there. This movie blew me away eve though it was different from the book probably for the movie playing in the alloted time. Jim Williams would have been a interesting person to meet. There was a lady in the christmas party scene who talked after serena made her husband speach. The woman looked so much like the charactor who played the girl who was raped in "Too kill a Mockingbird" not sure if it was. The story was brilliant the charactors interesting. I love Savannah so much. I'm from MI and loved the bird girl so much brought home a similar replica for my garden.....Peggy Sousa  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.244.42.204 (talk) 06:30, 2 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  midnight/ 

message: Some interesting info: The woman who was the basis for the voodoo priestess "Minerva" in the book Valerie Fennel Aiken Boles died 9 May, 2009 in South Carolina. Berendt says Boles did not like people to take her picture or touch her because she thought it put her at risk of being hexed. Read here --Kiwipat (talk) 20:57, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Minerva

message: One other error is that the garden mentioned in the title was not Bonaventure Cemetery. Minerva discussed the concept of "good and evil" time in cemeteries and this was on the way to a cemetery in South Carolina. Bonaventure cemetery was a setting for part of the book, near the beginning but was not a part of the book after that. None of the characters were buried in the cemetery.
I removed this paragraph because I believe it's fundamentally inaccurate. The book never claims that Bonaventure Cemetery is the location of the titular Garden of Good and Evil. Berendt makes it perfectly clear at all times that he's referring to the cemetery in South Carolina, not Bonaventure, despite what people who haven't read the book might assume -- possibly due to the cover photo of Bonaventure, but that hardly constitutes an "error." There's another minor inaccuracy in this paragraph as well; after the early part of the book, Bonaventure does make another appearance, in a pivotal scene near the end. --Masterofzen (talk) 05:19, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bonaventure Cemetery and the Garden of Good and Evil 

message: Settling the borderland: other voices in literary journalism By Jan Whitt --JN466 18:33, 12 September 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Useful source