Growing up on Long Island’s South Shore in the 1960s and ’70s, U.S. Rep. Steve Israel had three dreams in life: to one day be elected to Congress, publish a novel and play center field for his beloved New York Mets.
Having recently been elected to his eighth term in the House of Representatives, and fresh off the release of his critically-acclaimed first novel, “The Global War on Morris,” Israel [D-Dix Hills] said Monday that two out of three ain’t bad.
“I’ve always enjoyed writing, I’ve always loved writing, and being able to express my opinions, particularly through humor, was really a form of therapy for me,” said Israel, 56, who on Sunday will sign books and meet with his 3rd District constituents at the Barnes & Noble store in Manhasset at 2 p.m. “And these days, Congress could use a lot of therapy.”
“The Global War on Morris,” published Dec. 30, 2014 by Simon & Schuster, follows a pharmaceutical salesman from Long Island who, through a series of government highjinks, becomes Washington’s top terrorist target.
“I wrote it because I would see and hear things inside Congress that were so inane that I had to find a way to share it with the public,” he said. “The best way to share those reflections is through biting satire, and that’s what this book is.”
Critics agree. In its review, Booklist said that, “As political satires go, it’s really good; as debut novels go, it’s even better.” The Washington Post’s Ron Charles said Israel “skewer[s] his way through one gaffe after another in the fight against domestic terrorism.”
Israel, who last Sunday appeared at the Gold Coast Arts Center in support of the novel, said promotion for “The Global War on Morris” has served as another opportunity to reach constituents across Nassau, Queens and Suffolk counties who “are generally pretty good at sharing what’s on their minds.”
The novel is also currently being adapted into a television series by Hollywood heavyweight Rob Reiner and Roslyn native Andrew Lenchewski, co-creator and executive producer of the USA series, “Royal Pains.”
Lenchewski, Reiner and Alan Greisman, Reiner’s producing partner, will be executive producers on the project. It is being written by Academy Award nominee Doug McGrath, whose credits include the 1994 Woody Allen feature “Bullets Over Broadway.”
“When I received a call that Rob Reiner was interested in developing the book for TV, I really thought it was a practical joke. I thought literally that a friend was pulling my leg, but it turns out Reiner enjoyed it and is developing it,” Israel said. “…I just couldn’t be more happy and more surprised, quite honestly.”
