John Berendt

“We're all dragging the same chains.”

“Things are not always what they seem. The first rule of magic.”

“I find that if you just talk, you can get people to tell you anything.”

“Venice is a city of masks. Not just during Carnival but all year round.”

“Savannah's a living museum. People are the exhibits.”

“If you're going to live in the South, you're going to be a part of it.”

“I write what's given to me. I don't make it up. I don't have that kind of imagination.”

“Real life is so messy. I love the neatness of a story.”

“For me, the garden of good and evil is a place of balance.”

“To understand the living, you got to commune with the dead.”

“Rule number one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”

“Truth, like art, is in the eye of the beholder. You believe what you choose. And I'll believe what I know.”

“It's a city of secrets. And the secrets are the currency.”