⭐ CHOSEN BY BARACK OBAMA AS A FAVOURITE READ OF 2020 ⭐ NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND OPRAH'S
BOOK CLUB PICK ⭐ TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2020 NEW YORK TIMES and WASHINGTON POST 'Brilliantly
imagined larger than life a tragicomedic epic of intertwined lives set in a vividly rendered
neighbourhood in Brooklyn in the 1960s. Brash riotous hyperenergetic richly entertaining'
JOYCE CAROL OATES '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.' JUNOT DIAZ New York Times Book Review The year is 1969. In a housing project in
south Brooklyn a shambling old church deacon called Sportcoat shoots - for no apparent reason
- the local drug-dealer who used to be part of the church's baseball team. The repercussions of
that moment draw in the whole community from Sportcoat'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. 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. It is very funny in
places and heartbreaking in others. From a prize-winning storyteller this New York Times
bestseller shows us that not all secrets are meant to be hidden and that the communities we
build are fragile but vital. ______________________ From the winner of a National Book Award
and author of the bestselling memoir The Color of Water and The Good Lord Bird a TV series
starring Ethan Hawke Winner of a Carnegie Medal the Anisfield-Wolf fiction award and the
Gotham Award 'A hilarious pitch-perfect comedy set in the Brooklyn projects of the late 1960s.
This alone may qualify it as one of the year's best novels.' The Washington Post What Goodreads
readers are saying: ***** 'Deacon King Kong is one of those novels whose brilliance sneaks up
on you. I haven't been this pleasantly surprised by a book in a while.' ***** 'I do believe I
just finished one of my all time favorite books. I loved every minute spent with Sportcoat and
his community. A good old fashioned yarn shot through with truth spirit and humor. I LOVED
it!' ***** '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.' ***** 'Deacon has the texture of folk lore and
fable mixed with the unexpected rhythms of jazz and the noisy streets of late 1960s Brooklyn.'
***** 'The ending was one of those where you clutch your heart and want to hug the book (or
your Kindle).'
