Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

As the author settles into life in Savannah, he continues to meet a variety of unusual residents. At the junk shop where he buys his office furniture, he meets Jack, a salesman with a perfect memory of the store’s entire inventory as well as an enviable knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of various appliance brands. The boss wanted to fire the salesman for wearing purple eyeshadow, but because Jack is so good at his job and only wears eyeshadow on the eye farthest from the boss’s desk in deference, they continue to work together. Berendt also meets William Simon Glover, a former porter on the Pullman trains who also is a talented singer and musical director of the First African Baptist Church. Every day, Glover walks Patrick, an invisible dog.

The book then returns to Odom, revealing a disastrous real estate deal that he was responsible for. Savannah residents lost money on the deal, and yet, some of them didn’t sue or even hold a grudge against Odom: “‘I suppose I should hate him,’ said an osteopath, who had lost money in another of Joe’s financial schemes, ‘but he’s too damned likable’” (59). As a result of these schemes, Odom also lost most of his fortune and reduces himself to making money by playing piano at parties as well as allowing busloads of tourists to visit and have lunch in his historic townhouse.