Debut author Ira Mosen is not about to quit his day job as a physician, but he may be tempted to change careers by the outstanding reception he received for his book, First Among Nations.
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Mosen – originally from Cleveland, but has lived in Israel with his family for three years – wrote most of his book during flights and at airports on work commutes he made between Israel and Ohio for a year.
Those journeys have so far paid off with recognition by six independent book awards and glowing reviews from Publishers Weekly and The Jerusalem Post.
Jewish Journal, one of the largest Jewish news outlets in the United States, named it to its "30 Inspiring Books Worth Adding to Your COVID-19 Summer Reading List."
First Among Nations tells the story of an ultra-Orthodox Jew, a secular Jew raised on a kibbutz, and an Arab-Israeli who, despite cultural and religious differences, find common ground as soccer players on the Israel National Team.
"The novel presents a multifaceted Israel far more complex than often portrayed globally," Alan Rosenbaum of The Jerusalem Post wrote. "First Among Nations blends sports with religion and Mideast and world politics, and the book's characters become enmeshed with each other in all three dimensions."
That opinion was seconded by Publishers Weekly, whose review read, "A triumphant debut about the rise of an Israeli soccer prodigy. The … story branches out from the sports narrative to offer nuanced takes on Arab-Jewish friendships and ethnic prejudice, and explore the violence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict … will appeal to readers who like a feel-good yarn."
First Among Nations was also chosen as an eBook fiction finalist in The Eric Hoffer Awards and a finalist for Hoffer's Montaigne Medal. The novel also won an IPPY Bronze Medal (Indie Book Award) for multicultural fiction, was a "best new fiction" finalist for the International Book Award and took home two Next-Generation Indie Book Awards for first novel and general fiction/novel.
Mosen works at a clinic in central Israel that provides low-cost medical care to Israelis of all backgrounds and religions.
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