He’s a 79 year old man called “Sportcoat.” As a child, he was “cursed” with illnesses and one of the many healers his mother used, after casting her spells, told his mother not to call him by his given name for a period of time. There are numerous players, but one dominates. Because, while its subjects are a small black church, a sprawling public housing complex, an old neighborhood of deteriorating brownstones once occupied by only Italians, organized crime actors playing big time to small time roles, the New York Harbor, New York public servants in general and the police in particular, the individual people form the bricks and mortar of Deacon King Kong. It is McBride’s meticulous attention to the humanity, humor, danger, ambivalence and values (good and bad) of every single character that fills Deacon King Kong with heart and humor. Deacon King Kong is a funny, tragic, sweet, ugly, pulls no punches but finds good in the world around every corner book.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |