I thought it was good and the characters were flawed and real individuals who I genuinely enjoyed, but something was missing for me. The book starts off with a focus on Sportcoat and how he shot the drug dealer Deems Clemens and no one really knows why. I will try to keep pushing through the first halfway. James McBride's Deacon King Kong is a feverish love letter to New York City, people, and writing. As their stories are revealed and intertwine, the rascals and heroes of these mean streets are presented with such heart and beauty, I was sorry when i. Brooklyn 1969. Want to Read. March 2020 Indie Next List “Deacon King Kong is a quintessential New York story. 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. What makes this novel such a standout achievement is not so much the action or plot so much as the writing which tells a whole life story in one paragraph If . ". But this is a more confusing book than TGLB. ', ***** 'I do believe I just finished one of my all time favorite books. Deacon King Kong: A Novel (Hardcover) By James McBride. Deacon King Kong: A Novel (Hardcover) By James McBride. Deacon King Kong . I started this book back in February and, in the wake of the coronavirus, had a difficult time continuing in print in March—but then I switched to the audio version and couldn't put it down. So who died? It's funny. This alone may qualify it as one of the year's best novels.' Other Editions of This Title: Paperback (2/2/2021) Paperback, Large Print (3/3/2020) CD-Audio (3/3/2020) March 2020 Indie Next List “Deacon King Kong is a quintessential New York story. The fallout from this act tha. Populated with the most colorful, diverse cast imaginable, award winner James McBride has accomplished the difficult feat of making each character come alive, every set up believable and relatable. He is a hard-drinking, odd-job handyman that lost his wife two years ago (but continues to argue with her ghost almost continually), defied death multiple times, coached a youth baseball team and taught Sunday School. [Im still confused over who died in the water that night. Cuffy “Sportcoat” Lambkin, a deacon at the Five Ends Baptist Church, shoots 19-year-old drug dealer Deems Clemens at the flagpole, Deems’s usual selling spot. Sportcoat shoots the ear of 19 year old drug dealer, Deems Clemens, with an ancient gun, although he has no memory of doing this afterwards. To see what your friends thought of this book. The repercussions of that moment draw in the whole community, from Sportscoat's best friend - Hot Sausage - to the local Italian mobsters, the police (corrupt and otherwise), and the stalwart ladies of the Five Ends Baptist Church. Thank you for writing your review. DEACON KING KONG is a book about a community under threat, about the ways people pull together in an age when the old rules are being rewritten. To help us recommend your next book, tell us what you enjoy reading. 71 year old old timer, Five Ends Baptist Church Deacon Cuffy Lambkin, aka Sportcoat, is drunk on his buddy Rufus Harley's special blend of hooch named King Kong. ______________________, ***** 'Deacon King Kong is one of those novels whose brilliance sneaks up on you. A housing project with a view of the Statue of Liberty. Well done. Few writers come to mind who engage the reader in a more winning manner than James McBride, however tough the subject, be it fiction or nonfiction. By clicking subscribe, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Books Australia’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Deems is not killed, thanks to the intervention of an undercover police officer named Jet, but he is injured. McBride's fictional snapshot of a Brooklyn neighborhood in late 1969 has won the inaugural Gotham Book Prize, given for outstanding writing about New York City. Heroin is beginning its invasive inroads into the population. I found myself constantly bouncing between 2 stars, one minute, and 4 stars the next. Penguin Books Australia A Penguin Random House Company, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot. James McBride is the author of the award-winning New York Times bestsellers, The Color of Water and The Good Lord Bird, which is currently being made into a television series starring Ethan Hawke. Great story telling. “Deacon King Kong” is many things: a mystery novel, a crime novel, an urban farce, a portrait of a project community. James McBride's latest honor for the novel “Deacon King Kong” is a real New York story. Harold Dean got away. ', ***** '"Deacon" has the texture of folk lore and fable mixed with the unexpected rhythms of jazz and the noisy streets of late 1960s Brooklyn. McBride repeats segments as the narrative shifts between characters, so much so that I kept thinking my Kindle had skipped back. It is very funny in places, and heartbreaking in others. Deacon King Kong is a crime novel centering around life in the projects in the 1960's New York City. I LOVED it! List Price: 28.00* * Individual store prices may vary. I would have enjoyed it more if he had done this less, but found it overall entertaining. The World Doesn t Require You Stories by Rion Amilcar Scott. That's the setup. Followers. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. I thought it was good and the characters were flawed and real individuals who I genuinely enjoyed, but something was missing for me. He is married with three children. James McBride's novel Deacon King Kong is a historical fiction novel set in 1969 in Brooklyn, NY, at the fictional Causeway Housing Projects, or the Cause as the novel usually refers to it. March 03, 2020 In Deacon King Kong, the venerable James McBride’s first novel since winning the National Book Award in 2013 for The Good Lord Bird, a grief-stricken church deacon nicknamed Sportcoat shoots Deems, a 19-year-old drug dealer, at a Brooklyn-area … I will try to keep pushing through the first halfway. The fallout from this act that includes a drug turf war, drives the heart of this vibrant, comic and colourful novel. from Oberlin College. Set in the Brooklyn projects in 1969, a perpetually inebriated deacon called Sportcoat aims a gun at the neighborhood’s main drug dealer in the public plaza and pulls the trigger. McBride is an author I'd never heard of before, but one worth checking out. Even though there is a shooting that the story revolves around and a few murders, it's feels more... heartwarming? In December 2020, Emily Temple of Literary Hub reported that his novel Deacon King Kong had made 16 lists of the best books of 2020, while in February 2021 it won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. “while in Manhattan the buses ran on time, the lights never went out, the death of a single white child in a traffic accident was a page one story, while phony versions of black and Latino life ruled the Broadway roost, making white writers rich—West Side Story, Porgy & Bess, Purlie Victorious—and on it went, the whole business of the white man’s reality lumping together like a giant, lopsided snowball, the Great American Myth, the Big Apple, the Big Kahuna, the City That Never Sleeps, while the blacks and Latinos who cleaned the apartments and dragged out the trash and made the music and filled the jails with sorrow slept the sleep of the invisible and functioned as local color.”, “God was forever generous with His gifts: hope, love, truth, and the belief in the indestructability of the good in all people.”, Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Historical Fiction (2020). Which had emptied of boats, ships, tankers, dreams, money, and opportunity the moment the colored and the Latinos arrived, "You lived a life of disappointment and suffering, of too-hot summers and too-cold winters, surviving in apartments with crummy stoves that didn’t work and windows that didn’t open and toilets that didn’t flush and lead paint that flecked off the walls and poisoned your children, living in awful, dreary apartments built to house Italians who came to America to work the docks. 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 .38 from his pocket, and in front … More. See all 21 questions about Deacon King Kong…, Forthcoming Books for 2020 by African-Americans, Goodreads Picks for Tournament of Books 2021, Deacon King Kong by James McBride - 4 stars, Group Read - Deacon King Kong ch 16-20 Spoilers Welcome, Group Read - Deacon King Kong ch 21-26 to end Spoilers Welcome, John Grisham's Recommended Thriller Reading List. In 2015 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama. Book Companion One of TIME Magazine's Ten Best Novels of the Year. What makes this novel such a standout achievement is not so much the action or plot so much as the writing which tells a whole life story in one paragraph If not in each sentence. He lives. ☀️Had the privilege to listen in on Levar Burton interview and chat with James McBride last night on a webinar! May's Amerie's Book Club selection is Deacon King Kong by James McBride! I loved every minute spent with Sportcoat and his community. 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. 31 on hand, as of Apr 7 3:18pm. What a wild ride. McBride repeats segments as the narrative shifts between characters, so much so that I kept thinking my Kindle had skipped back. And his command of the dialogue is spectacular. Overview. A good old fashioned yarn shot through with truth, spirit, and humor. There was nothing that really stood out that will make this book memorable for me and it was pretty predictable. No novel from 2020 brings New York City to life quite like Deacon King Kong. Facebook. It is an understatement to call this novel a nonpareil prize. “The business of life is the only business there is.” Also, “A library or bookstore is freedom.” Wonderful! I want to love this book but right now I just am trying to keep all these characters straight wh. ', ***** 'The ending was one of those where you clutch your heart and want to hug the book (or your Kindle).'. The novel is, in other words, a lot. Some days I didn’t have time to even pick it up…other days it was a great little retreat for me at the end of a crazy day. Deacon King Kong by James McBride is a 2020 Random House publication. The year is 1969. Deacon King Kong by James McBride, A lively and compassionate story about a shooting in the projects of South Brooklyn. March 3rd 2020 Both Deems and Beanie were accounted for. As their stories are revealed and intertwine, the rascals and heroes of these mean streets are presented with such heart and beauty, I was sorry when it wrapped up. by Riverhead Books. The humor actually hit as funny to me (for once, a rarity.) This book has heart, brains, and guts. 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. Lord save us all from the book hype machine. A former reporter for The Washington Post and People magazine, McBride holds a Masters degree in journalism from Columbia University and a B.A. Staff Reviews . Followers. Set in the Brooklyn projects in 1969, a perpetually inebriated deacon called Sportcoat aims a gun at the neighborhood’s main drug dealer in the public plaza and pulls the trigger. I seem to be in the minority here but for some reason I just couldn't really get into this book. A sensationally brilliant character and community driven historical fiction by James McBride, set in 1969 in the Causeway Housing Projects in South Brooklyn, New York. A Novel. He can write a sentence that is funny, sarcastic, tragic, and enlightening, all in one, albeit, long sentence. 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. On Our Shelves Now. It’s not particularly long or dense, but was just difficult to get back into once I put it down. Follow by Email . This is one helluva romp. $28.00 . Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. CHOSEN BY BARACK OBAMA AS A FAVOURITE READ, The New York Times bestseller and Oprah's Book Club Pick about community, race and religion from the National Book Award winner, James McBride, THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK; NYT TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2020, 'Deacon King Kong is deeply felt, beautifully written and profoundly humane; McBride's ability to inhabit his characters' foibled, all-too-human interiority helps transform a fine book into a great one' The New York Times Book Review, 'A hilarious, pitch-perfect comedy set in the Brooklyn projects of the late 1960s. Shelving menu. This year, McBride has also won the Anisfield-Wolf fiction award, given to a book that addresses racism and diversity, and a Carnegie … 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. "You lived a life of disappointment and suffering, of too-hot summers and too-cold winters, surviving in apartments with crummy stoves that didn’t work and windows that didn’t open and toilets that didn’t flush and lead paint that flecked off the walls and poisoned your children, living in awful, dreary apartments built to house Italians who came to America to work the docks. Sportcoat shoots the ear of 19 year old drug dealer, Deems Clemens, with an ancient gun, although he has no memory of doing this afterwards. I think it was the writing style itself that I didn't connect to. Sportcoat has a 26 year old blind son, Pudgy Fingers, and lost his beloved wife, Hettie, when she walked into the river 2 years ago, since then he continues to see and converse with her, desperate for her to tell him where she kept the Church Christmas Collection, money that the poverty stricken people need back. The Washington Post, From the winner of a National Book Award and author of The Good Lord Bird, soon to be a TV series starring Ethan Hawke. Sign up to our newsletter using your email. I have been very anxious about reviewing this book. I had a lot of distractions going on in my personal life while I was reading this book. Followers. Even though there is a shooting that the story r. A cast of nicknamed characters in 1960s Brooklyn swirl through this novel - it's the minor Italian crime lords and the retiring Black church members making up the majority. “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.”, A cast of nicknamed characters in 1960s Brooklyn swirl through this novel - it's the minor Italian crime lords and the retiring Black church members making up the majority. Deacon King Kong is a crime novel centering around life in the projects in the 1960's New York City. Add to Wish List. Incredibly well-constructed and hilarious at times, McBride’s story entwines a number of storylines that are kickstarted by this central event. I want to love this book but right now I just am trying to keep all these characters straight which is a task. Deacon King Kong was published in 2020 and written by American author James McBride.It is an example of near-historical fiction written about American cities and social issues. Hardcover. Let’s talk about our thoughts on this opening. Pinterest. I think it was the writing style itself that I didn't connect to. He has also painted a scene in the projects that is easy to envision. It is … I hope I’ll have the same feelings as you once I’m finished. He studied composition at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and received his Masters in Journalism from Columbia University in New York at age 22. Deacon King Kong: A Novel by James McBride read online free english novels and books Free PDF. I love my grandmother to pieces but it felt like one of my weekly two hour phone calls with her. He holds several honorary doctorates and is currently a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. The poverty and racism are there, but so too are McBride’s huge heart, LOL humor and amazing writing. A sensationally brilliant character and community driven historical fiction by James McBride, set in 1969 in the Causeway Housing Projects in South Brooklyn, New York. Which had emptied of boats, ships, tankers, dreams, money, and opportunity the moment the colored and the Latinos arrived. DEACON KING KONG is a book about a community under threat, about the ways people pull together in an age when the old rules are being rewritten. 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 .38 from his pocket, and in front of everybody shoots the project's drug dealer at point-blank range. McBride has brilliantly written a highly energetic story encompassing a multitude of characters that circle the Five Ends Baptist Church where his main character, Sportcoat, is a Deacon. He studied composition at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and received his Masters in Journalism from Columbia University in New York at age 22. Post a Comment Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) [blogger] Social Counter. Deacons, church ladies, corner boys, mobsters, moonshine, moonflowers, "white people" cheese, folklore, ghosts, gossip, looting, shooting, and goofing. He holds several honorary doctorates and is currently a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. A housing project with a view of the Statue of Liberty. That's the setup. Here is my book review Deacon King Kong by James McBride. There’s even some western in here. The chest protector saved Sausage and Sportcoat got away. Set in the Brooklyn projects in 1969, a perpetually inebriated deacon called Sportcoat aims a gun at the neighborhood’s main drug dealer in the public plaza and pulls the trigger. McBride’s novel opens in September 1969. Deacon King King received the 2021 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction. It had a lot of characters who just liked to talk a lot about their day. James talked about growing up in church, with the characters in his book reminiscent of real people in his life. Instagram. I would have enjoyed it more if he had done this less, but found it overall entertaining. The humor actually hit as funny to me (for once, a rarity.) ', ***** 'This book was a balm for my soul, a portrait of a black church community circa 1969 with sweet characters (well, most of them), interconnections that stretch back decades, and a plot with more than one mystery at its heart. Once again, McBride has created a whole swath of colorful characters. GET BOOK! Deacon King Kong. “Deacon King Kong is a quintessential New York story. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Riverhead Books, 2020. After reading a slew of grim, apocalyptic books I turned to the kind of book people used to call “rollicking,” where we meet a wild cast of nicknamed characters who get involved in a wild goose chase of an adventure. Now, in keeping with the random synchronicity of my reading, this book does document a time, 1969, when knives changed to guns as booze turned to heroin in Brooklyn, it doesn’t lie about that, but the emphasis in the story is more on hope than many of the books also about the turn to drugs and the ultra-violence I read such as Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men and Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell. Such talented men! 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King King received the 2021 Anisfield-Wolf book Award for fiction I will try to keep these. Undercover police officer named Jet, but so too are McBride ’ s story entwines a number of storylines are! Long sentence too are McBride ’ s wrong with this preview of, Published march 2020! Shooting in the projects in the projects in the 1960 's New York City, people, writing! Grandmother to pieces but it felt like one of the Year 's novels!