A Roast of the Gun Lobby

The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons will host a special book-and-author reception and talk with Steve Israel, a former Long Island congressman, on April 4 at 5:30 p.m. at Seasons of Southampton. Tim Bishop, a former congressman from Southampton, will serve as M.C. for a question-and-answer session.

Mr. Israel will speak about and sign copies of his second novel, “Big Guns,” a political satire about the powerful gun lobby. The novel, published a year ago, is set in Washington, D.C., and in Asabogue, a mythical village located between Southampton and East Hampton. The climax of the book takes place at a League of Women Voters candidates debate, of all places. 

Mr. Israel was the U.S. representative from the Second and then the redistricted Third Congressional Districts in Nassau County and Suffolk County’s North Shore for eight terms, from 2001 to 2017. He is now chairman of the nonpartisan Global Institute at Long Island University, where his congressional records will be housed.

This month, and in April and May, he is presenting a three-part lecture series at L.I.U.’s C.W. Post campus in Brookville on the topics “Inside Congress,” “Global Challenges,” and “Common Ground: How Republicans and Democrats Can Get Along in Washington, D.C.”

Tickets purchased before next Thursday are $65; they will be $70 after that. Checks can be sent to the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons at P.O. Box 2253, East Hampton 11937, to reserve a place. Hors d’oeuvres will be served, and there will be a cash bar. Payment by credit card can be done by calling the league’s office at 631-324-4637.