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    Big Guns: A Novel
    Big Guns: A Novel
    Big Guns: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    Big Guns: A Novel

    Written by Steve Israel

    Narrated by Jonathan Davis

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    From Steve Israel, the Congressman-turned-novelist who writes “in the full-tilt style of Carl Hiaasen” (The Washington Post), a comic tale of the mighty firearm industry, a small Long Island town, and Washington politics: “Congress should pass a law making Big Guns mandatory reading for themselves” (Nelson DeMille).

    When Chicago’s Mayor Michael Rodriguez starts a national campaign to ban handguns from America’s cities, towns, and villages, Otis Cogsworth, the wealthy chairman and CEO of a huge arms company in Asabogue, Long Island, is worried. In response, he and lobbyist Sunny McCarthy convince an Arkansas congressman to introduce federal legislation mandating that every American must own a firearm. Events soon escalate.

    Asabogue’s Mayor Lois Leibowitz passes an ordinance to ban guns in the town—right in Otis Cogsworth’s backyard. Otis retaliates by orchestrating a recall election against Lois and Jack Steele, a rich town resident, runs against her. Even though the election is for the mayor of a small village on Long Island, Steele brings in the big guns of American politics to defeat Lois. Soon, thousands of pro-gun and anti-gun partisans descend on Asabogue, and the bucolic town becomes a tinderbox. Meanwhile, Washington politicians in both parties are caught between a mighty gun lobby and the absurdity of requiring that every American, with waivers for children under age four, carry a gun. What ensues is a discomfiting, hilarious indictment of the state of American politics.

    “New York congressman-turned-novelist Steve Israel delivers a second brilliant political satire” (Booklist, starred review). “An entertaining satire” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Big Guns is “a wonderfully irreverent satire about the fractured and fractious American political and lobbying system…a rollicking comedic trip” (Publishers Weekly).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateApr 17, 2018
    ISBN9781508254591
    Author

    Steve Israel

    Congressman Steve Israel was the former United States Representative for New York’s third congressional district, serving in the United States Congress from 2001 to 2017. Born and raised in Brooklyn and on Long Island, Israel graduated from George Washington University. He is the author of the novels The Global War on Morris and Big Guns.

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    Reviews for Big Guns

    3.5/5

    19 ratings2 reviews

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    • 4/5
      'Big Guns' is yet another winning political satire from a guy who sounds way too smart to have spent 16 years in Congress, Steve Israel. This time the topic is gun control, or almost its exact opposite in that an idea hatched by a gun manufacturer to pass a law requiring universal gun ownership gets traction and suddenly becomes a cause celebre by the right. It's played out against a small town mayoral election in the Hamptons, which pits a female longtime lefty mayor against an aging movie star. I know, it sounds silly and it is, but Mr. Israel is a fine writer who drops insights into the inner workings of DC politics all over the place for our enjoyment.
    • 5/5
      Talk about a timely book! One city bans guns, and in reaction, a congressman introduces a bill to require all citizens to own a gun. Israel covers the absolute insanity of both sides of the gun control debate, the incredible dysfunction of our government, and the people caught in the middle. All while delivering a highly readable and enjoyable story. The novel moves along rapidly, sucking you in the whole way. I can't wait for the next installment, but I understand that the issue is still developing, and no one can yet know what strange twists and turns will be taken. This book should be required reading for all American citizens, both pro gun, anti gun, and those who have no opinion. It probably won't change anyone's core beliefs, but it would sure be helpful to be able to at least realize that there is more than one side to the story. Highly recommend!