“There were a lot of theories floating around the projects as to why old Sportcoat – a wiry, laughing, brown-skinned man who had coughed, wheezed, hacked, guffawed, and drank his way through the Cause Houses for a good part of his seventy-one years – shot the most ruthless drug dealer the projects had ever seen.”

In Brooklyn, New York in the late 1960s Cuffy Lambkin (commonly known as Sportcoat), a deacon of the Five Ends Baptist Church, shot 19 year old drug dealer Deems Clemens. Sportcoat had no recollection of having done this, since he was usually at least a bit tipsy - his preferred drink was home made hooch called King Kong. Unfortunately for Sportcoat, there were many witnesses to the shooting. What follows is a story that is part mystery, part shaggy dog story that is often very funny and is always entirely wonderful. 

Many of the characters live in a Housing project called Cause Houses.  The project is overseen by the Housing Authority honchos “...who did not like their afternoon naps disturbed with minor complaints about ants, toilets, murders, child molestation, rape, heatless apartments, and lead paint that shrunk children’s brains to the size of a full-grown pea in one of their Brooklyn locations, unless they wanted a new home sleeping on a bench at the Port Authority bus terminal.”

There are cops and mobsters longing for love, a hidden object of great value, an impending drug war, two inept assassins, an unexplained cheese shipment and a collection of colorful characters. I loved the way the author intertwined the stories of the people whose lives centered around Five Ends and the local mobsters. When one of the mobsters visits 104 year old church lady Sister Paul, she tells him “I’ve been around the sun one hundred and four whole times, and nobody’s explained nothing to me. I read the book on not being explained to. That’s called being an old colored woman, sir.” Even Sportcoat’s dead wife Hettie plays a role. I also learned a new expression that I am sure I’ll find useful: “your cheese has slipped off your cracker”. I loved this book. 

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Deacon King Kong is great!  The writing is wonderful, the characters come alive on the page, the story is relevant and interesting.  It's also laugh out loud funny.  Mr. McBride is an extremely talented writer.  You can really feel NYC in the sixties.  Please don't miss this amazing book.

DEACON KING KONG-an interesting read by James McBride. Setting is a project in Brooklyn in the late 60s.At times a crime novel(begins with an attempted murder) , at times a comedy( found myself laughing hysterically at times)and at times a serious look at the sociological problems of the projects and racism-which still exist today.
The names -and nicknames-of the characters can be confusing at times, and I will confess to being a bit lost in the first half of the book.The interactions between the characters-and not just the main protagonists are funny, insightful, and thoroughly enjoyable-personally, I felt that this kept the book “ going”.

Many thanks to you for this gifted copy of James McBride’s novel, Deacon King Kong. ⁣
⁣
I am kicking myself in the behind because McBride is an author I’ve been sitting on way too long and now that I’m a little over half way through this book, I want more of his works. His prose are beautifully written and I am absolutely loving the multicultural characters, Puerto Rican’s, Italians and Haitians just to name a few. ⁣
⁣
Look I’m not from New York, but McBride’s vivid description puts you front and center of all the hustle and bustle of the city. This book is comical and absolutely worth the read. ⁣
⁣
Thanks again Riverhead, I have now added The Color of Water as my next McBride read. ⁣

Deacon King Kong is a crime novel but one like you’ve not read before. Neither  have most pictured the projects of New York as McBride so colorfully describes them. The story did take longer than usual to get onto as the characters where introduced. Each with their memorable nick names and quirky personalities. I came  away with such an attachment to the community, beginning with Sport Coat the deacon and lovable drunk. Who happens to shoot the town drug dealer Deems and swears he doesn’t remember a thing. I fell in love with the church and each of its members too. In addition to a murder mystery it’s a funny and heartwarming story a community that becomes family.

“They saw what she saw, she realized. She read it in their faces. They would never win. The game was fixed. The villains would succeed. The heroes would die. The sight of Beanie's mother howling at her son's coffin would haunt them all in the next few days. Next week, or next month some time, some other mother would take her place, howling her grief. And another after that....But then, she thought, every once in a while there's a glimmer of hope. Just a blip on the horizon, a whack on the nose of the giant that set him back on his heels or to the canvas.”⁣
⁣
Every now and then a book comes along that just seeps into your soul.... you lose yourself among the pages, and become so engrossed in the characters' lives and their community that you find yourself thinking about them long after you have turned the final page. From the opening scene where the elderly, drunken Deacon shoots the local drug dealer in broad day light, to the hunt for the mysterious, buried "bar of soap" and the identity of who delivers the "Jesus cheese", the characters of The Elephant, Sport Coat, Deems and Hot Sausage have stayed with me even though I read the final sentence of this spectacular epic almost two weeks ago.⁣
⁣
Parts of this story are laugh out loud hilarious and then others are so profound it's as if Sister Gee herself has reached out and slapped you hard across the face to ensure that you are truly seeing what is taking place in The Cause. The extensive cast of characters walk the line between darkness and light and what ensues is a stunning mix of grief, friendship and grace. Thank you so much to Riverhead Books for providing an arc through Netgalley. This is one of my top reads of 2020 so run out and I can not rave about it enough.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

The novel is confusing at first, but the plots are tied together at the end of the book.  There are multiple storylines that converge.   Sportcoat is a drunk, a deacon, and a handyman.   He has a good heart and is better to his wife's ghost than he was to her in life.  Through his work in his church and multiple odd jobs, Sportcoat is at the center of business with drug dealers and mobsters.  Even though he runs with a wild crowd, his heart remains pure.

This novel won't require endless reviews to motivate readers pick up Deacon King Kong because McBride has a huge following.  Unfamiliar with this author, I was pleasantly surprised by the crazy characters and the zany plot line of this novel.  I kept thinking about the perfect Motown soundtrack for this novel, which it likely to become a film.    Perfect book for spring break.

Deacon King Kong is a rollicking read filled with humor, crime, faith, passion, empathy and drama. Deacon King Kong is one of the names of the lead character, who is also nicknamed Sportcoat. He goes by the first name because of his role (barely religious) in the church; the King Kong comes from his favorite brew cooked up by one of his old pals. Sportcoat is the name he becomes known as for a particularly noticeable jacket he tends to wear.

The action is in the Cause, a housing project in Brooklyn, during the Sixties (the Mets are predicted to have a shot at the World Series). Life in the projects may be difficult, but the people who live there Blacks, Haitians and Puerto Ricans are together in their celebrations and sorrows. Sportcoat is one of the older members of this group. He is coping with some losses: his wife’s death and the disappearance of the Christmas fund she held.  Sportcoat is frequently revisiting his past. 

But one day he goes to the Cause’s main area where a young drug dealer is plying his trade. Unexpectedly, he fires a gun at him. From this point, McBride spins a tale that is like being immersed in a Jacob Lawrence painting of a vibrant street scene. You don’t know where to look or what to expect. Every character has a story: the Irish police officer, the dignified church woman, the newly released young man returning to the community, an Italian gangster with a hard reputation who harbors softer yearnings, his elderly mother seeking plants in the junk strewn fields. 

McBride captures the rhythms of the times with his characters, language and descriptions. He will capture the heart of a reader. Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

How can you resist a tale where some of the leading characters are called Sportcoat, Bum-Bum, Hot Sausage, Soup, The Elephant and Pudgy Fingers? Resistance is futile, friends, so just relax and enjoy this rollicking, laugh-and-cry, picaresque story of love, loyalty, race, blood and, most of all, Brooklyn. Yes, the Borough of Kings. The year is 1969 and the mayor is Lindsay, the Stonewall riots are brewing and Brooklyn is still recovering from the treachery of Walter O'Malley 12 years before, when he tore the Dodgers out of the heart of the community and moved them to Disney's Land. The action is all in the housing projects where dope is flourishing, the church is reeling and people, black, brown and white are being parted from their turf by a man named Moses. This ain't 'The Good Lord Bird' and it's a far cry from "The Color of Water." It's an utterly original fable of fate and friendship and a period of time in the city that never sleeps and sometimes never weeps.

Deacon King Kong was a slow burn that turned into a raging inferno! When I started reading, I was a little unsure about the direction the book was going to take. I was pulled  one way by the wit and humor and pushed another way by the violence and racism. It was quite a read. I will say that the first half was a little slow and took me a while to get into (I even considered abandoning this one for a while), but then I hit the second half and found myself reading long into the night.

What a treat this is!  When Sportcoat shoots Deems it sets off a whole range of effects and emotions among the people of the Cause House Projects in Brooklyn.  Brooklyn in 1969, like the rest of the country, as going through major social and political upheaval.  MacBride has used this neighborhood and these people to subtly (sometimes not so subtly) address these issues.  Each character (and there are a lot of them) has a distinct voice and if it takes a moment to catch their rhythm, well, that was a plus for me.  This might seem meandering at first but it totally pulls together.  Never forget that this is a comedy even when there's darkness.  Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.  Highly recommend.

James McBride is ... I have no words. How does the same man that kept me spellbound in Song Yet Unsung and laughing in The Good Lord Bird turn around and give me Langston Hughes’ Tambourines to Glory vibes in Deacon King Kong? The way his mind works is nothing short of amazing.

I'd highly recommend this for readers who've enjoyed the previously mentioned Langston Hughes book Tambourines to Glory or fans of Paul Laurence Dunbar's The Sport of the Gods.

This took a lot longer for me to finish than I was anticipating. It’s not particularly long or dense, but was just difficult to get back into once I put it down. The characters are charming, fleshed-out and full of life, but initially it was hard to connect with what they were doing. 

Honestly I was over halfway through Deacon King Kong wondering what it was even about. I mean, I knew what was happening, but I didn’t understand what James McBride was trying to say. I had no idea where it was headed, even as pieces began to overlap and fall together. The seriousness of the catalyst and crime, Sportcoat shooting a 19-year-old drug dealer in broad daylight, was played against the absurdity of the life he’s leading. I didn’t know how I was supposed to react: should I be on the edge of my seat or should I be cackling at the hijinks of the Cause Houses’ residents? Was Sportcoat’s utter confusion at the crime he was being told he committed funny or sad? 

I think those questions ended up being indicative of the skill in James McBride’s writing. In places of poverty and where the only real ways to get ahead are on the wrong side of the law, you have to be able to find the bright spots or you’ll be drowned in the dark places. You can’t just live to survive.

While I did feel kind of aimless in the first half, the back half was nearly impossible to tear myself away from. I kept hoping for not just an ending, but a resolution. Despite not seemingly having anything in common with a majority of the characters like I initially felt, I became engrossed in their lives. Deacon King Kong is one of those novels whose brilliance sneaks up on you. I haven’t been this pleasantly surprised by a book in a while, and I’ll be looking to pick up more by McBride going forward.

With an amazing grasp of language and dialogue, the author writes of friendship and loyalty as well as darker themes of prejudice, drug culture, and crime in the Cause House projects of New York City in 1969. Despite the heavy themes, this is an almost quiet story that made me laugh out loud a few times. I most enjoyed the well-developed characters (very colorful!) and least appreciated the plot (meandering and repetitive).

Thanks to NetGalley and Riverhead Books/Penguin Group for the ARC to read and review.

Set in 1969, an old African American church deacon kills a drug dealer on his own turf. Riveting story involving the deacon, the dealer, the witnesses, and others that are living in the neighborhood or become/are involved.

I love this book. Within a few pages I settled in with the characters on the benches at the flagpole, gossiping and absorbing the community history and watching as a shocking event unfolds. I was reminded of the first season of The Wire where there was humor to leaven the trials and burdens and even the bad guys were somehow likable. The narrative is straightforward, the dialogue musical .  McBride conveys his care and sympathy with his characters without letting them off the hook.

In his latest novel James McBride dives deep inside Brooklyn's Causeway housing project circa 1969, introducing a multi-ethnic cast connected by the many strands of memory and relationships that weave together their community. A complex character-driven plot is set in motion when a generally peace-loving older resident, the alcoholic church deacon and former baseball coach known as Sportcoat, shocks the neighborhood by shooting an up-and-coming young drug dealer while under the influence of King Kong, a potent local brew. Before the roistering, cinematic plot reaches its conclusion, interrelated secrets involving local leaders, the  police, Italian mobsters, and congregants of Five Ends Baptist Church are revealed. Masterful third-person narration, a strong sense of place, and notable character development more than match McBride's earlier achievement with his phenomenal The Good Lord Bird. This is a must read for anyone seeking first-rate historical fiction. Note: The publisher supplied an advance reading copy via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

It is September of 1969 and the world is changing at a rapid pace.  A man has just walked on the moon, Woodstock has rewritten music history, and the New York Mets are about to win the World Series.  But for the residents of Cause Houses, a housing project near the abandoned docks of Brooklyn, the changes are of a much more threatening nature.  The amount of drugs in their midst, with the attendant participation of organized crime, has recently exploded, replacing the more petty forms of graft and corruption the neighborhood has tolerated for decades.  So, when an elderly drunk known to all as Sportcoat shoots a young drug dealer who he used to coach in baseball and teach in Sunday School, it sets in motion a dizzying array of actions and events, the repercussions of which permanently transform the lives of those living around Cause and the Five Ends Baptist church.

In <i>Deacon King Kong</i>, James McBride weaves this amazing story with all the humor, wisdom, and panache that anyone who has read his equally engaging <i>The Good Lord Bird</i> would expect.  Taking off from Sportcoat’s singular act of defiance—which he was too drunk on King Kong, his homebrewed libation of choice, to even remember—the author expands rapidly to describe the many likely and unlikely ties that bind together the people belonging to this multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-religion, and multi-generational community. And, to be sure, this tale is nothing if not a celebration of community, taking both the blessings and the warts in the balance.  The people of Cause Houses cannot survive without each other—although they certainly would like to try from time to time—and McBride brings out the essential humanity of the collective lives they lead and the secrets they keep for one another.

I really liked this book, which was a moving and satisfying reading experience from beginning to end.  With Sportcoat (aka Deacon King Kong, for his two most prominent passions), the author has created an unforgettable protagonist for the ages.  In fact, McBride does a wonderful job fleshing out <i>all</i> of the many, many characters—Hot Sausage, Sister Gee, The Elephant, Deems, Hettie, and Officer Potts, to name but a very few—that populate this sprawling patchwork of a story.  This is a novel that is frequently funny, sometimes grim, occasionally thoughtful and philosophical, but never dull.  Above all else, it is a deeply compassionate look at a group of people who never lose faith in themselves or each other, despite facing some very long odds.  I can recommend this book without the slightest hesitation.

This book starts with a BANG (literally). It draws you in and doesn't let you go until the end. I didn't expect to laugh out loud so much with a book that starts with a shooting, but it was oddly funny as well. Pick this one up!