Deacon King Kong (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel
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. The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of DEACON KING KONG.
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Community Reviews
A fumbling, cranky, old church deacon struts into the courtyard of a crowded Brooklyn housing project and shoots the local drug dealer. What follows will make you laugh out loud and also tear up.
I loved reading about this multi-cultural community and the quirky yet believable characters who live there. Sportcoat was a flawed but sympathetic protagonist. I was rooting for him and his friends. The plot kept me wondering and reading.
Set in the Cause Houses of Brooklyn in 1969, this is a slice-of-life tale. I've never been to this place or at this time before, but it seems less strange now. McBride has a great ability to weave a story while preventing too much confusion between the numerous characters and plot points. But beyond the three intertwining and tangling of individual lives over time, what is life? At the end, there is a satisfying resolution. And when I consider the tale, I am struck by how foolish lying is in every circumstance. Over all this was one of the best book that I had ever read.
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