A diamond is a lump of coal that did real well under pressure. I love that line and I’m thrilled to find such a good place here to use it. The Ghost of Neil Diamond is a novel literature book by David Milnes. I’m not certain if the author was under pressure while being an expat in the Southeast Asia city of Hong Kong but Neil Diamond is certainly a diamond. (Would that make Neil Diamond’s ghost the ghost of a diamond? – I couldn’t stop my typing fingers.)

The Ghost of Neil Diamond by David Milnes

Let’s take a peek at what some reviewers have to say about this Southeast Asia literature book.

“An extraordinarily precise slice of life of parts of Hong Kong very few know about. Even the dodgy expats who live there. It tracks an English Neil Diamond impersonator, his jumped-up Chinese agent, his ordeals in the slummiest bars of Wanchai and Kowloon and a duelling Neil Diamond impersonator… The best literature from Hong Kong I have read since…”

“…traces Neil’s journey through the side-streets and lonely bars of Hong Kong with an appreciation for the city’s strange comedy, like a Wong Kar-wai film. This is not the glamorous Hong Kong – even the skyline and harbour become, in a wonderful inversion of an iconic scene, just some “cosmetic bottles round a filthy sink” – but it is a haunting one. And as we follow Neil’s mortifying attempts to make it as a Neil Diamond impersonator on the expat club scene, we meet a marvelous cast of supporting characters: the enigmatic travel agent-turned-impresario Elbert Chan, a black tennis coach and potential rival singer, and, most troubling of all, a seasoned Diamond impersonator from Los Angeles with no interest in sharing this potentially lucrative niche market…”

“Highly recommended, whether or not you are a Neil Diamond fan. David Milnes has created characters that will stay with you (and you’ll want them to!) long after the last strains of melody have faded out. Well-paced, very funny, with some superb descriptions of the seedy side of Hong Kong. You’ll find yourself rooting for Neil in some surprising circumstances. And the writing is some of the best I’ve read this year…”

The Ghost of Neil Diamond by David Milnes

Here at ClickMyLit, I’m doing my part to bring self-published and under-promoted literature books to your attention. So how about clicking some of my links?  Then I can quit my day job and run away to Southeast Asia and be an expat book promoter.

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