Checkpoint was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2004. The novel is 115 pages of dialogue between two men in a Washington D.C. hotel room. Jay has decided to assassinate George W. Bush. His reasons are the Iraq War — the civilian deaths, the lies about weapons of mass destruction, the photographs from Abu Ghraib. Ben, his old friend, has come to the hotel to talk him out of it.
The novel was published during an election year and generated enormous controversy. Critics objected that Baker was legitimizing political assassination — giving it a literary platform, lending it the prestige of a major publisher. Baker’s defenders argued that the novel was obviously a thought experiment: Jay’s assassination plans are increasingly absurd (radio-controlled bullets, trained scorpions), and the real subject is not violence but the desperation of political impotence — the feeling that democratic mechanisms have failed and nothing remains but action.
Checkpoint is Baker’s most formally austere work: pure dialogue, no description, no narration, no interiority. The constraint (derived from Vox) forces the reader to judge the arguments on their own terms, without authorial guidance. The novel remains Baker’s most divisive — admirers see it as a brave engagement with political rage; detractors see it as irresponsible or trivial.
Collecting Checkpoint
First edition (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2004): Hardcover with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $15–$35
- Very good/very good: $8–$20
Projected values (2026–2036): Modest appreciation.
The Assassination Dialogue
Checkpoint (2004) is a short novel consisting entirely of a conversation between two men in a Washington, D.C., hotel room — one of whom has come to assassinate President George W. Bush. The novel, published during the Iraq War, provoked intense controversy: critics accused Baker of irresponsibility, while supporters praised his courage in dramatizing the rage many felt about the war. Like Vox, the novel is a formal experiment — a single conversation that gradually reveals psychological depth — but its political content made it Baker’s most divisive work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was this politically motivated? Baker said he opposed the Iraq War and wanted to explore the psychology of political rage. The novel does not endorse assassination; it examines the desperation that could drive someone to consider it.