Deacon King Kong

Deacon King Kong was published in 2020 and written by American author James McBride. It is an example of near-historical fiction written about American cities and social issues. McBride’s 1995 memoir about growing up in a mixed-race family in Brooklyn, The Color of Water, was both a commercial and critical success, and his own life experience aligns with some of the narratives and issues in Deacon King Kong.

McBride’s novel The Good Lord Bird won the National Book Award in 2013, and he was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2015 by President Obama for his important literary work on racial narratives. McBride’s other artistic achievements include holding the title of Writer-in-Residence at New York University, musical composing and performing as a saxophonist, and work on several major film adaptations of his books. He has received numerous other awards from various artistic groups, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

This guide refers to the Riverhead Books hardback edition.

Plot Summary

Deacon King Kong takes place in a Brooklyn neighborhood during the fall of 1969. Although the book follows a variety of characters, the protagonist is an elderly Black man named Cuffy Lambkin—nicknamed Sportcoat—living in a housing project called the Cause Houses.