Deacon King Kong (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel

By James McBride

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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Published Mar 3, 2020

400 pages

Average rating: 7.66

265 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Michael Bernard
9/10 stars
Tremendous. Great names for characters. Please make this into a movie.
Saposto
9/10 stars
The characters in DKK are vivid and real; the unique names and interrelatedness exemplifies how neighborhoods used to be personified as a be a member of one’s family. The novel takes off after Chapter 5 as the characters’ purpose become evident.
minnie052457
I liked it. It was a slog though.
Kimmers
8/10 stars
Wildly entertaining where you could laugh out loud. There were some real characters in that book.
Michele Harrris
9/10 stars
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.

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