Play Book Tag discussion

Deacon King Kong by James McBride - 4 stars - My Review

“Someone else had already taken over Deems’s bench at the flagpole. Nothing here would change. Life in the Cause would lurch forward as it always did. You worked, slaved, fought off the rats, the mice, the roaches, the ants, the Housing Authority, the cops, the muggers, and now the drug dealers. 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, which had emptied of boats, ships, tankers, dreams, money, and opportunity the moment the colored and the Latinos arrived. And still New York blamed you for all its problems.”

This is the story of a community in Brooklyn within sight of the Statue of Liberty centered on the activities of main character, Sportcoat, a deacon at the local church. “Sportcoat was a walking genius, a human disaster, a sod, a medical miracle, and the greatest baseball umpire that the Cause Houses had ever seen, in addition to serving as coach and founder of the All-Cause Boys Baseball Team.” The year is 1969.

During one of Sportcoat’s alcoholic binges, he shoots Deems, the local drug dealer. The rest of the narrative tells of the ripple effect through the area. The impact is wide-reaching – the drug network, organized crime, local police, church members, residents, and long-time friends.

The beginning of the book is spent setting up the many threads, and it can seem a bit chaotic. It is sometimes difficult to keep track of the many characters and plot points. But I have read this author before (The Good Lord Bird), so I trusted he would bring it all together and my trust was well-placed.

McBride is skilled at employing humor to offset the anguish of serious topics. For example, a hit man keeps bumbling the hit by way of a variety of bizarre mishaps. There are ongoing jokes about the definition of a deacon, a mysterious supply of cheese, and ants.

McBride has created a community of characters of many races that feel authentic. I cared about what happens to them. The threads of the story converge into a highly engaging experience. I can easily see this book being made into a film.

Same on all counts!

I think it is important, as you mentioned, that readers going into this realize the first 50 pages or so are set up, so it's a little confusing but once it gets going it is a wonderful reading experience... at least, it was for me.

I'm glad you liked this; I didn't care for the first 50+ pages and nearly tossed it aside but for a group discussion and a review that said the same but that it get better as it went on from a GR friend.