Deacon King Kong
A Novel
by James McBride
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More Recommenders
“8. Another book I can't sing the praises high enough for is DEACON KING KONG by James McBride. Brooklyn, 1969, The Cause projects, a black church deacon nicknamed "Sportcoat," his loyal pal Hot Sausage, a melancholic mobster called The Elephant, and hidden treasure. READ IT! | As 2020 comes to a close, I wanted to share my annual lists of favorites. I’ll start by sharing my favorite books this year. I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I did.”
Source →“8. Another book I can't sing the praises high enough for is DEACON KING KONG by James McBride. Brooklyn, 1969, The Cause projects, a black church deacon nicknamed "Sportcoat," his loyal pal Hot Sausage, a melancholic mobster called The Elephant, and hidden treasure. READ IT! | As 2020 comes to a close, I wanted to share my annual lists of favorites. I’ll start by sharing my favorite books this year. I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I did.”
Source →Recommended by 4 notable people, including Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey
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Reading Profile
Should I read this?
Starts with an arresting, oddly comic crime — an old church deacon shoots someone — then unfolds as a crowded, affectionate portrait of a south Brooklyn housing project and its witnesses. The value is in the distinct, often funny voices, moral ambiguity, and slow-building empathy: short scenes and asides turn small gestures into revealing character studies. Limitation: the many detours into backstory and tonal flips between humor and grief can make the middle feel meandering; readers wanting a tight mystery may feel impatient.
Read this if...
- •a book-club leader planning several weeks of discussion — the multiple points of view and open moral questions supply material for lively conversation across meetings
- •a father looking for a readable novel to share with adult children — voice, intergenerational detail, and neighborhood memory make it a springboard for family talk about history and responsibility
- •a fiction writer or writing-student studying voice and ensemble structure — lots of distinct colloquial narrators and short, scene-driven chapters to study
Skip this if...
- •you’ll likely put it down when the narrative spends long stretches on secondary characters and backstory in the middle — the plot’s forward motion softens and patience is required
- •annoying if you prefer clean moral answers or a straight procedural crime plot — this leans toward moral ambiguity and community texture over puzzles
- •annoying if you want hands-on, plot-first suspense or swift pacing — the novel favors character portraiture and tonal shifts that can feel indulgent
From James McBride, author of the National Book Awardwinning The Good Lord Bird, comes a wise and witty novel about what happens to the witnesses of a shooting.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 .45 from his pocket, an...
Before You Buy
Reading Specifications
Difficulty:hard
Audience Fit
- a book-club leader planning several weeks of discussion — the multiple points of view and open moral questions supply material for lively conversation across meetings
- a father looking for a readable novel to share with adult children — voice, intergenerational detail, and neighborhood memory make it a springboard for family talk about history and responsibility
- a fiction writer or writing-student studying voice and ensemble structure — lots of distinct colloquial narrators and short, scene-driven chapters to study
- you’ll likely put it down when the narrative spends long stretches on secondary characters and backstory in the middle — the plot’s forward motion softens and patience is required
- annoying if you prefer clean moral answers or a straight procedural crime plot — this leans toward moral ambiguity and community texture over puzzles
- annoying if you want hands-on, plot-first suspense or swift pacing — the novel favors character portraiture and tonal shifts that can feel indulgent
Check formats, pricing, and availability options for Kindle, physical print, or audiobooks directly.
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Why recommended
Recommended by 4 sources and appears in For Dads, Most Recommended Books, and Mystery & Crime.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Barack Obama
44th President of the United States
“8. Another book I can't sing the praises high enough for is DEACON KING KONG by James McBride. Brooklyn, 1969, The Cause projects, a black church deacon nicknamed "Sportcoat," his loyal pal Hot Sausage, a melancholic mobster called The Elephant, and hidden treasure. READ IT! | As 2020 comes to a close, I wanted to share my annual lists of favorites. I’ll start by sharing my favorite books this year. I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I did.”
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Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Recommended by 5 sources.
“This sprawling, detail-rich historical novel follows cathedral builders, nobles, and townspeople across decades, delivering immersive scene-setting and a steady accumulation of plotlines. Its useful part is the sustained attention to craft—architecture, politics, rivalry—that makes the medieval world tangible. The main limitation is repetitive melodrama and swings in pacing: long, satisfying set pieces sit beside stretches that feel slow or contrived. Better read slowly rather than skimmed; readers who stick it out will find payoff in the concluding convergences.”
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How recommendation signals are reviewed
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.