Deacon King Kong

Deacon King Kong is a novel by James McBride. It notably won the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence for Fiction, Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction, and Thurber Prize for American Humor.

Deacon King Kong

Author	James McBride
Language	English
Genre	Literary fiction
Set in	Brooklyn, 1969
Publisher	Riverhead Books
Publication date	March 3, 2020
Pages	370 pp. (hardcover 1st ed.)
ISBN	9780735216723 (hardcover 1st ed.)
OCLC	1122690620
Dewey Decimal	813/.6
LC Class	PS3613.C28 D43 2020

Narrative

The story unfolds in September 1969 Brooklyn and centers around volatile Cuffy Lambkin, nicknamed "Sportcoat". Sportcoat, a heavy drinker and church deacon, shocks his community by publicly shooting a young drug dealer, Deems Clemens, in broad daylight at the Cause Houses housing project. The incident sets off a chain of events involving the church community, local gangsters, the police, and residents of the housing complex. As secrets about Sportcoat, Deems, and others come to light, the novel explores their interconnected lives during a period of social and personal upheaval.

Release

It was published in the United States on March 3, 2020.

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2020	Booklist Editors' Choice	Adult Audio	Won	[1]
	Goodreads Choice Awards	Historical Fiction	Nominated–14th	[2]
	Kirkus Prize	Fiction	Shortlisted	[3]
	New York City Book Award	—	Won
2021	Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence	Fiction	Won	[4]
	Anisfield-Wolf Book Award	Fiction	Won	[5]
	Audie Award	Literary Fiction & Classics	Shortlisted	[6]
	Dayton Literary Peace Prize	Fiction	Shortlisted	[7]
	Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award	—	Shortlisted	[8]
	Thurber Prize for American Humor	—	Won	[9]