Why this book: Selected by my Literature reading group after the strong recommendation of Patsy, who has yet to let us down with a book she strongly recommends! 

Summary in 3 Sentences: Deacon King Kong is the nickname for an old black man in Brooklyn in the late 1960s when the neighborhood is in the middle of a drug war between several different gangs cashing in on the very lucrative heroin trade.  The story includes colorful characters from the poor urban underworld of that era – the poor Italians, the poor blacks, the Irish cops, and the places and manner where those three cultures clash and cooperate.  It’s a fascinating story, with fascinating characters which shines a light on a time and place in NYC culture when it was in transition.

My Impressions: I enjoyed and learned a lot more from this book than I expected.  I listened to it, which served me well, as Dominic Hoffman, the reader, did well in performing the various roles and voices that arose in the story. He helped make the characters real and believable and the story had enough drama and even a bit of fairy tale in it to keep me engaged.  I’ve already recommended it to several friends. The book has been widely recognized, won several awards, and is an Oprah pick. 

The story begins with the book’s unlikely protagonist known in the neighborhood as “Sportcoat” drunk and trying to kill “Deems,” a young man who is plying his trade selling drugs to other young people on a corner in the neighborhood – the projects in Brooklyn.  Everyone sees the attempt but Sportcoat only woulds Deems,  as Deems turns his head at just the right time.  Sportcoat was so drunk he doesn’t even recall trying to kill Deems, and his drinking buddy “Hot Sausage” is astonished at the stupidity of the act and tries to convince Sportcoat that he needs to leave town, in order to avoid being killed in revenge, either by Deems or Deems’ drug bosses or friends.  At this point in the book I’m not so sure what i’ve gotten myself into – maybe  “Amos ‘n Andy” in ‘the hood.

‘But the story rapidly evolves and gets better and better.

Sportcoat’s attempted murder incites a mini-drug war between Deems’ boss, and another drug lord who wants that territory.  Then, into that drama comes “the Elephant,” an Italian smuggler who works in the neighborhood but on the fringes of the Italian Malia, but is not in the drug business.  We get to know all of these criminals as human beings, doing what they can to survive and play by whatever rules will keep them alive in the battle for illicit gains in the underworld of Brooklyn.

We then get to know the Irish cop who is assigned to sort all this out, who after a long career policing in New York and Brooklyn is only months away from retirement, and doesn’t want to get in too deep and put his retirement in jeopardy.   One of his main connections in the hood is the wife of the pastor of the church where Sportcoat is “the Deacon” and their friendship adds a different human dimension to the story. 

McBride brings so many fasicnating characters into this story that it truly was a joy to listen to it.  He takes us back to a simpler time – when most of the blacks in Brooklyn had grown up in the world of racism and limited opportunity in the rural South, and then migrate north to NYC in hope of a better life.  These former farm workers, sharecroppers, laborers and household help from the South form a tight community where people look out after and take care of each other, and yet squabble like family.  We get insights into the charm and pettiness of church life in a poor section of Brooklyn and the many eccentric characters who gave that neighborhood its character and personality.

Our protagonist “Sportcoat” is hard to take seriously at first, but the more we get to know him, the more we see that there is to admire. He has an ongoing relationship with his wife Hettie, who is a constant in his life, and their relationship evolves throughout the book, even though she’s no longer living.  Sportcoat talks to her and she answers him, chastises him, gives him advice, and he argues with her – until she gets mad and leaves him alone.  Until she comes back.  Sportcoat’s relationship with Hettie adds color, depth and humanity to how we understand him, and how he deals with the challenges that he brings on to himself. 

And as we get to know each of the colorful characters in this book we come to admire them in spite of their eccentricities and failings.  McBride is sympathetic and compassionate toward the characters in the book – each doing what they can in a difficult and often ugly environment.   Whereaas we might laugh at or look down on the eccentricities, the naivete, sometimes poor judgment of the characters in this book, I couldn’t help but see McBride’s approach as celebrating these eccentricities and differences in perspective and lifestyle.  This is what made this book so much fun to read/listen to.   McBride brings out the ridiculous and the sublime in each of his characters. 

The second half of the book includes a mystery and a treasure that bring a number of these chareacters together in unanticipated ways, and adds more fun and drama to this story. 

Deacon King Kong is an entertaining and insightful way to get in a culture and lifestyle that was a key part of American when the rest of the country was watching the moon landing, the War in Vietnam and the disfunction of Washington Politics. 

Highly recommended and deserving of its many accolades.