John Berendt Follows Up I went to a luncheon for John Berendt yesterday—he's the author of the new book, The City of Falling Angels, and, of course, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

I was interested in what Berendt would have to say about following up "Midnight," as he refers to it, given that it's about the most successful non-fiction book other than the Bible ever written. Talk about pressure. And it was clear from Berendt's talk that he struggled to find the right follow-up. Once he got the idea of writing about the destruction by fire of the Venice opera house, and the mystery of it all, he spent four years researching the idea before he even wrote a proposal.

(Okay, a luxury most authors don't have.)

I haven't read The City of Falling Angels yet, but I'm looking forward to it—its very existence is a success for Berendt. Here's hoping the book does well.
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Obligatory full disclosure here: As of about two weeks ago, Berendt and I are represented by the same literary agent.  ¶ 8:56 AM