John Berendt

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John Berendt (born December 5, 1939 in New York City , New York ) is an American author and journalist , who is known with his non-fictional book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ("Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil") has been. He was with this book finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1995 in the category non-fiction (general non-fiction), received in the same year the Lambda Literary Award in the category Gay men's mystery and appeared on many bestseller lists.

Life

Berendt grew up in Syracuse, New York . Both of his parents were writers. While studying at Harvard University , he served on the staff of the satirical magazine Harvard Lampoon . He graduated in 1961 and moved to New York City to pursue a career in journalism. Berendt wrote for television presenters David Frost and Dick Cavett . He was co-editor of Esquire magazine from 1961 to 1969, co- editor of New York magazine from 1977 to 1979, and wrote a monthly column for Esquire magazine from 1982 to 1994.

Berendt published the documentary psychological thriller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in 1994 and had great overnight success with it; the book was on the New York Times bestseller list for two years . The story, real and disturbing, was researched by Berendt himself in Savannah, Georgia : Jim Williams, a homosexual snob, is a big "number" in Savannah's high society. But how did it come about that the stick boy Danny suddenly lay dead in his mansion? Berendt describes many colorful people in this southern society and their relationships with one another in a witty and authentic way. In a very lively language he documents the historical places in Savannah and the surrounding area.

After the book a film of the same name appeared with John Cusack and Kevin Spacey , in which Clint Eastwood was director and one of the producers. The film received mixed reviews.

Berendt's second book, The City of Falling Angels , was published in September 2005. They are interwoven chronicles of life in Venice in the aftermath of the 1996 fire that destroyed the La Fenice opera house . Here, too, Berendt, who happened to come to the city after the fire, lived in Venice for a while to do research and to conduct many interviews, which he then reproduced in his book. He often reports from the previous lives of the people and shows their social and artistic importance in Venice at that time. Examples are the violinist Olga Rudge , the poet Mario Stefani , the painter Ludovico de Luigi , but also stories about the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the American association Save Venice and the two men who were ultimately convicted as arsonists. The reader quickly forgets that this is a non-fiction book and not a novel. This book also became a bestseller.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 7th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. Retrieved March 10, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Random House website: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: About the Author , accessed June 3, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Berendt, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH December 5, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York, United States