Queens Tribune

Are you looking to get your hands on a great novel to welcome the dog days of summer?

Well you are in luck. Queens Tribune alum Muhammad Cohen is bringing you “Hong Kong on Air.”

He describes the novel as “black comedy.” The novel is set in the era of Hong Kong at the time of the Hong Kong handover in 1997. According to Cohen, the handover was surrounded by massive uncertainty.

“We all didn’t know what to expect from China,” he said. “It was a time of extraordinary uncertainty and on the other hand great excitement.”

He said the novel gives a real life and glimpse of how the media operates.

“All good fiction reflects life,” he said. “It is a realistic depiction of television.”

The premise of the novel percolated and simmered in Cohen’s mind even before the handover. He said that he wanted to write about his experiences in television.

According to Cohen, the book’s revolving themes include TV news, love, betrayal, finance and cheap lingerie.

Although Cohen sets the novel during the long awaited ending of British rule in Hong Kong, the story also touches on another theme — the Asian economic crisis and the emergence of China as an economic force. He said the crisis was missed by the majority of the media because the focus was on the handover. Cohen said while countries like Taiwan suffered “China was the last economy standing.”

“China became a place for investment,” he said. “Hong Kong was China’s coming out party.”

The book was published last year in Hong Kong where Cohen resides, but by month’s end, the book will make its U.S. debut. The novel can be ordered from local bookstores and at amazon.com.