John Berendt's first book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (1994), spent a record-breaking four years on the New York Times bestseller list and, to date, has sold five million copies worldwide. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for general nonfiction, it was made into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood in 1997; the book has been credited with putting Savannah, GA. on the map. Berendt's second book The City of Falling Angels (2005), offers a penetrating and intriguing look at the private lives behind the storied façades of Venice; it was also a number-one bestseller.

Berendt graduated from Harvard, where he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. Before turning to the writing of books, he was a monthly columnist for Esquire, a television writer and producer (for David Frost and Dick Cavett), and the editor of New York magazine.