Deacon King Kong (2020)

Sportcoat's disastrous shooting of a young drug dealer sets a Brooklyn neighbourhood into overlapping motion. McBride finds comedy in the talking, misunderstanding and long-standing knowledge that connect its residents. The humour gradually makes the community's losses more particular: people have histories before they become somebody else's problem. Addiction and violence are real forces here, alongside an exuberant plot. It suits readers who want compassion to accommodate difficult, infuriating people without reducing them to lessons.