Twelfth Night

John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is filled with intense imagery from many sources. The characters and setting don't seem to be part of a story. They are real, and therefore they seem real in the book. Berendt gives them a distinctive look and feel that could only come from life. He gives them personality. Savannah itself comes alive. Even the actions of the inhabitants of Savannah are given shape. The …

…corporate in one way or another. They have always been immediately, though still politely, turned away. Even the driving in Savannah is kept tranquil. In fact, the citizens of Savannah have no choice about this. Traffic is not allowed in the squares that populate the town. Drivers have no choice but to go around. "So traffic is obliged to flow at a leisurely rate, " says Miss Harty. "The squares are our little oases of tranquillity" (29).