Fast, Complex And Funny, 'Deacon King Kong' Is A Love Letter To New York City
James McBride's latest novel starts with a shooting: A broken down preacher shoots the local drug dealer, who dodges at the last minute, losing an ear — and kicking off a chain of consequences.
by Gabino Iglesias
Mar 07, 2020
3 minutes
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James McBride's Deacon King Kong is a feverish love letter to New York City, people, and writing. The prose is relentless and McBride's storytelling skills shine as he drags readers at breakneck speed trough a plethora of lives, times, events, and conversations. The novel is 370 pages, but McBride has packed enough in there for a dozen novellas, and reading them all mashed together is a pleasure.
The year is 1969, and Sportcoat is the hard-drinking deacon of an old church
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