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Deacon King Kong

by James McBride

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,5088511,488 (4.25)118
"From James McBride, author of the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird, comes a wise and witty novel about what happens to the witnesses of a shooting. In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .45 from his pocket, and in front of everybody shoots the project's drug dealer at point-blank range. The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride's funny, moving novel and his first since his National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird. In Deacon King Kong, McBride brings to vivid life the people affected by the shooting: the victim, the African-American and Latinx residents who witnessed it, the white neighbors, the local cops assigned to investigate, the members of the Five Ends Baptist Church where Sportcoat was deacon, the neighborhood's Italian mobsters, and Sportcoat himself. As the story deepens, it becomes clear that the lives of the characters--caught in the tumultuous swirl of 1960s New York--overlap in unexpected ways. When the truth does emerge, McBride shows us that not all secrets are meant to be hidden, that the best way to grow is to face change without fear, and that the seeds of love lie in hope and compassion. Bringing to these pages both his masterly storytelling skills and his abiding faith in humanity, James McBride has written a novel every bit as involving as The Good Lord Bird and as emotionally honest as The Color of Water. Told with insight and wit, Deacon King Kong demonstrates that love and faith live in all of us"--… (more)
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» See also 118 mentions

English (84)  French (1)  All languages (85)
Showing 1-5 of 84 (next | show all)
This book has more characters than the Chinese alphabet. What a ride! Who knew that so many characters could be fully formed, all within 350 pages? A great story and a great read. ( )
  BenM2023 | Nov 22, 2023 |
I finished listening to this book just prior to taking off on holiday and I forgot to write my review of it. So, I apologize if this isn't a very full discussion of the book.

All of the book takes place in a small area of New York City. Cause Houses is a housing project in Brooklyn. I've never actually been in a housing project but the representations I have seen on TV shows make me feel that they aren't a spot where people willingly go to live. And yet, once there, most people try to get along and even try to improve things. Sportcoat is an older man who drinks too much and is trying to come to terms with his wife's recent passing. Is it because of the drink that he sees her and talks to her? Maybe or maybe she really is manifesting herself from the grave to try to help Sportcoat. But Sportcoat is also a deacon of the local church and coached the young boys in baseball. One of them named Deems was a potential star in the sport; he turned instead to drug dealing. He runs a local gang that hangs out in the area in front of the Cause Houses buildings. One day, Sportcoat takes an old gun and fires it at Deems. Being very drunk and not a good shot, Sportcoat only nicks Deems' ear. That's just one of the dramas that are played out over the course of the book. I couldn't possibly, even if I could remember them all, summarize all that goes on in the book. Suffice it to say that James McBride makes the characters in the book leap off the pages or the soundwaves in the case of an audiobook, such as my chosen method of experiencing this novel I may have forgotten much of the details of this book but I doubt I'll ever forget Sportcoat or his buddies Rufus and Hot Sausage or Sister Veronica Gee or Elefante, the Italian shipping merchant whose warehouse is right next to the church. And then there's the mysterious angel painted on the end of the church around whom all the action swirls. Such interesting, interesting characters!

I can't finish this review without praising Dominic Hoffman who narrates the audiobook. I see I've listened to one other book that he narrated, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, and I commented then what a great narrator he was. I'm going to have to see if I can find any more books that he has narrated. ( )
  gypsysmom | Oct 22, 2023 |
After I got over the idea of the 1960's being shelved as historical fiction, I really enjoyed this book. It's a gorgeous portrait of a community, often funny and charming, dealing with some serious topics but never reveling in them. The narrative is expertly constructed, the story-telling engaging, and there was even a little mystery for us to solve along with the protagonists. ( )
  Kiramke | Jun 27, 2023 |
Funny, heartwarming, good story. ( )
  cathy.lemann | Mar 21, 2023 |
With lovable characters with Runyonesque names like Sportcoat, Hot Sausage, Bum Bum, Sister Gee, The Elephant and The Governor, loving vivid memories of a time and place the author clearly knew so well, plot twists, twinkly-eyed humor, themes of loss and redemption, and long-assed sentences that made me hold my breath in awe, this was one of those books I was really sad to finish. ( )
  oshafiro | Mar 3, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 84 (next | show all)
In a city where history is paved over and where the present landscape is defined by scaffolding bent toward an ever-developing future, this novel resists the usual nostalgia for a lost artists’ utopia. Instead, it animates a neighborhood scrimping by and revitalizes another nostalgic sore spot — that of community.
added by pbirch01 | editSeattle Times (Mar 25, 2020)
 
Beneath the characters and comedy is a story about how a community and its religious institutions can provide a center to keep things from falling apart completely.
 

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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
James McBrideprimary authorall editionscalculated
Hoffman, DominicNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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For God's people--all of 'em
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Deacon Cuffy Lambkin of Five Ends Baptist Church became a walking dead man on a cloudy September afternoon in 1969. That’s the day the old deacon, known as Sportcoat to his friends, marched out to the plaza of the Causeway Housing project in South Brooklyn, stuck an ancient .45 Luger in the face of a nineteen-year-old drug dealer named Deems Clemens and pulled the trigger.
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"From James McBride, author of the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird, comes a wise and witty novel about what happens to the witnesses of a shooting. In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .45 from his pocket, and in front of everybody shoots the project's drug dealer at point-blank range. The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride's funny, moving novel and his first since his National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird. In Deacon King Kong, McBride brings to vivid life the people affected by the shooting: the victim, the African-American and Latinx residents who witnessed it, the white neighbors, the local cops assigned to investigate, the members of the Five Ends Baptist Church where Sportcoat was deacon, the neighborhood's Italian mobsters, and Sportcoat himself. As the story deepens, it becomes clear that the lives of the characters--caught in the tumultuous swirl of 1960s New York--overlap in unexpected ways. When the truth does emerge, McBride shows us that not all secrets are meant to be hidden, that the best way to grow is to face change without fear, and that the seeds of love lie in hope and compassion. Bringing to these pages both his masterly storytelling skills and his abiding faith in humanity, James McBride has written a novel every bit as involving as The Good Lord Bird and as emotionally honest as The Color of Water. Told with insight and wit, Deacon King Kong demonstrates that love and faith live in all of us"--

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