Class Act: A Gentleman's Guide to Dressing Well

by John Berendt

From the bestselling, iconic author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil comes an irreverent and essential style guide—from boxers to button downs, turtlenecks to tuxedos


For more than a decade, beloved author John Berendt wrote a series of smart, sophisticated columns for Esquire on matters of manners and men's clothing. Class Act brings together over fifty of these updated and revised pieces, as well as two new additions, each focusing on a particular item of iconic men’s fashion. Whether interviewing the Duchess of Argyll about her family connection to a certain pair of socks ("When she came to the telephone, the Duchess of Argyll made it clear by the resoluteness of her replay that she had been asked about argyle socks before..."), educating the reader on the virtues of French cuffs, or identifying the definitive motorcyle jacket and how to wear it (Marlon Brando in The Wild One), Berendt informs and entertains in equal measure.

Full of surprising facts, unforgettable characters, and amusing anecdotes, this collection of snappy, elegant essays is fully illustrated and as stylish as its subject matter. Part cultural history, part handbook, Class Act serves as a reminder that the clothing we wear is not simply fabric, but a reflection of our character... and sometimes our sheer audacity. A wildly entertaining ride through men's style and its place in our collective imagination, Class Act makes a strong case that taste and wit will never go out of fashion.

208 pages, Paperback

Expected publication October 13, 2026

About the author

John Berendt is an American author and journalist best known for his best-selling nonfiction book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1994), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. Blending true crime and vivid portraits of Savannah, Georgia, the book became a cultural phenomenon, spending a record-breaking 216 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and inspiring Clint Eastwood’s 1997 film adaptation.
Born in Syracuse, New York, Berendt studied English at Harvard University, where he worked on the Harvard Lampoon. He went on to serve as associate editor of Esquire and editor of New York magazine, and later wrote a long-running Esquire column. His years in Savannah, beginning in 1985, gave him intimate access to the city’s eccentric residents and the real-life murder trial at the heart of Midnight.
Berendt’s second book, The City of Falling Angels (2005), explored Venice in the aftermath of the fire that destroyed its historic opera house, La Fenice. In 2011, he published the children’s book My Baby Blue Jays. In 2024, a stage musical adaptation of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil premiered at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, with a Broadway opening planned for 2025.