SHANGHAI - Two Chinese writers slaved for 48 hours straight to produce an instant biography of late singer Michael Jackson, despite having never met him, a state-run newspaper said on Monday.

The book, called Moonwalk in Paradise, hit the bookshelves over the weekend, the China Daily said, after the authors subsisted on a diet of coffee and cigarettes and worked round-the-clock to complete it.

While they are not as popular as the Taiwanese and Hong Kong stars who dominate the music scene in China, Western artists are making inroads in the local market, thanks to young fans.

Jiang Xiaoyu, one of the writers, had previously written blogs and reviews about Jackson, who died on June 25 when he went into cardiac arrest at his rented mansion in Los Angeles.

I am not only a music critic but also a fan of the King of Pop, so I understand what fans really need, Jiang was quoted as saying by the newspaper. I fought the deadline around the clock, as fans cannot wait for months.

The China Youth Daily said the writers wrote the book based on their accumulated knowledge about the King of Pop.

Though it is hard to tell how big the market for instant books is in China, I am sure we have done a nice job on quickly responding to market needs, the China Daily quoted Zang Yongqing, an editor at the publishing house, as saying.

The report added that at least 10 other Chinese publishers were planning instant books about Jackson.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, editing by Miral Fahmy)

China