Checkpoint by Nicholson Baker

Nicholson Baker has written another fantastic and original story. Checkpoint is the conversation between two long-time friends. Jay has just told Ben of his plans to assassinate the President. (Even as I review this book I wonder if I have put myself under the watchful eyes of the FBI or one of our nation's many other intelligence agencies).

Ben spends most of the book attempting to dissuade Jay from committing this horrible action. In the process they discuss many issues affecting America today and throughout its history: war (from World War II through both Gulf Wars), high end cameras, urban development, civilization, the 24-hour media, and yes even blogs. There are many interesting ideas discussed, including many that I had never heard before such as urban sprawl being planned by the Department of Defense. I have plenty of my own research to do after reading this book.

Even though the book is supposedly about whether or not to assassinate the President, it ends up being much more about the isolation in modern society and about mental illness.

Like many of Baker's previous books the story takes place during one moment in time. He tells the story from beginning to end, there are no chapter breaks because the story never breaks. You will really want to read this book in one full sitting.

This is a great book, it is a shame that in about 2 months it will be a book that will be out of date. I wonder if he could have written this about a generic president---I'm guessing it wouldn't have had the same effect. It makes everything seem so much more real and the discussion seem so much more open.

Keywords: Politics, Assassination, Mental Illness, Alienation, George W. Bush, Current Events, Conspiracy Theory, Friendship