Congressman Says He Wrote A Novel On His iPhone And It Sounds Really Intense
Israel seemed to base some of the protagonist Morris Feldstein's character on his own life. According to a report in Roll Call published Monday, Feldstein, like Israel, "is a Jewish, Mets-loving inhabitant of Long Island."
Based on the publisher's description of the book, which is entitled "The Global War on Morris," it sounds like equal parts romance novel and dystopian thriller.
"Meet Morris Feldstein, a pharmaceutical salesman living and working in western Long Island who loves the Mets, loves his wife Rona, and loves things just the way they are. He doesn't enjoy the news; he doesn't like to argue. Rona may want to change the world; Morris wants the world to leave him alone. Morris does not make waves," the description begins.
Feldstein's simple life changes after he is "seduced."
"But one day Morris is seduced by a lonely, lovesick receptionist at one of the doctors' offices along his sales route, and in a moment of weakness charges a non-business expense to his company credit card. No big deal, you might think. Easy mistake," the description explains.
After his misuse of the company card, Feldstein apparently "becomes the US government's new public enemy number one."
In his interview with Roll Call, Israel labeled the book "political satire" and claimed "most of it" was written on his iPhone as he went about his day.
"I would sit in these meetings with President Bush during the whole global war on terror and hear this stuff that I said, 'My constituents would never believe me if I reported this in speech,'" Israel explained.