Deacon King Kong: A Novel

It's one of these rare books that you don't want to ever end. The story is written by a real talent. It is funny, witty, engaging, and inspiring. You can't avoid falling in love with these simple, good-hearted, inspiring characters who struggle to live their very basic and deprived lives, and yet they are full of belief and optimism and, surprisingly, can convey their good spirits to the reader. The storyline is full and rich. As the story unveils, missing parts fall into their place, and the story achieves its completeness. The spoken language fantastically follows the actual slang yet is charming and easy to follow. This was a most pleasing reading, and I'm sure I'll read more books by the author.

how does a black writer dare to write a novel, situating in a housing project alcoholic old men, young men slinging dope, church folk and their saturday night shortcomings, formations of ants so bad, as the saying goes, they will pull switchblades on rats and take away their cheese? and, in case, the black humor is too subtle, there is cheese in this story, lots of cheese. by embracing the stereotypes and following their stories. the deacon, sportcoat as he’s known throughout the projects, doesn’t drink any more since hettie, his wife, died, not that he drinks any less, an alcoholic who favors a rotgut by the name king kong. hettie may be dead, but no reason for sportcoat not to have conversations with her. sportcoat used to coach a youth baseball team in the projects. things fell apart when dope moved into the neighborhood, claiming sportcoat’s star pitcher, deems, clocked pitching a ball at ninety miles per hour, and threw all that away to push dope. sportcoat, the old lush, believes he can turn the kid around and steer him toward the majors. dream on, old man. how do aging italian-americans fit into all of this? the setting is one of new york city’s boroughs. new york, one of the northern destinations of the southern migration of blacks and while blacks were traveling north, italians and other european ethnic groups were coming across the ocean to share space, often segregating in communities of their own. and yet blacks and italians always managed, for better or worse, to find themselves in close proximity. blacks with their churches, italians with masonry skills. of course, some italians are known to be gangsters. mcbride brings all these fragments together with small mysteries, generational strife, loss, and quiet dreams longing toward something material and valuable. a touchingly funny, yet sobering book.

McBride expertly drops the reader into the projects in Brooklyn in 1969. His level of descriptive writing ability is rare and impressive. McBride plays on several themes as he weaves multiple story lines into a fully connected, cohesive plot. This is a technique that I personally enjoy seeing play out and I was overall pleased with the journey. The primary themes in this story are friendship, family, humanity in criminality, mentorship, loss, poverty and home. The story immediately opens with action when a church deacon shoots a drug dealer. This is the primary plot line around which all other plots play out, until most are connected and resolved by the end of the novel. There are three main character groupings which are criminals, church attendees and police officers. The story illustrates the interesting complexities of relationships between these groups. For example, the drug dealer that the church deacon shoots is a 19-year-old young man that the deacon has known since the drug dealer was a small boy, and the deacon used to coach him in baseball and teach him at Sunday school. There are multiple characters to keep track of in the novel and many of the characters have at least two names, one nickname and their actual name which is more rarely used. At points I wished I was reading an e-book, so I could highlight a character name and see where it had first appeared in the novel so I could recall the character’s relationship to others and origin. McBride effectively crafts dialogue that sounds like it authentically portrays each group which helps to get the reader into the story. The dialogue is at times so funny that I laughed out loud. The characters live in a dangerous place but despite the fact the plot was life-threateningly serious, McBride paints characters that seem accustomed and desensitized to the constant danger, and they still have moments of joy, celebration, and happiness despite it. The “Cause Houses” as a setting is practically another main character in the story. Most of the characters live in the Cause Houses and some are responsible for the care taking of it. If you are a reader who enjoys a strong sense of place, and you want to learn what it is like to live in a housing project, then you will appreciate this aspect. If you are considering reading this book, be aware that McBride subjects the reader to periodic seemingly pointless rants on what appear to be disconnected topics such as lengthy descriptions of ants and cheese. I will admit I started to feel frustrated during these points, and wished McBride wasn’t quite so descriptive, as I was left grasping to connect these random descriptions to the plot line. However, if you continue to follow the through line, McBride will lead you to the connection eventually. (I still wish I hadn’t read the ant portion, however, as it painted images in my mind I’d rather forget.)

I couldn’t it this book down. It’s so hard to find a true storyteller; one that makes you sit up and pay attention from the first words uttered on that first page. This book is everything I ever crave in a book, characters with heart, wit and humour and a story with twists and turns that you don’t want it to end. I loved it and I cannot wait to read more by the fantastic author.

Life is hard all around us. Good literature helps us to see the spark of deep humanity and our ability to discover humanity even in the most desparate surroundings. It gives us hope that there can be a brighter future for us if we look beyond all prejudices and biases, no matter where you see yourself in our new BIPOCW world. Deacon King Kong is such a story. Full of heart, humor, tough reality. I was reminded of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row which showed a deeply human community in the midst of a tough world. James McBride has given us a 2010s version of it. This will make a great gift - for yourself, of course!

Loved this book, just like last McBride book I read. I suspect all his books are wonderful. Prose so clear even a Canadian with blond hair gets it. The storyline rolls smoothly. The characters are real.

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A beautiful nuanced story about love. Quite compelling. The prose is sheer delight. You will find yourself re-reading passages just to savour them for a second time.