Character Fantasizes Bush Assassination
By Linton Weeks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 29, 2004; Page C01
In Nicholson Baker's new novella, "Checkpoint," a man sits in a Washington hotel room with a friend and talks about assassinating President Bush.
It's a work of the imagination and no attempts on the president's life are actually made, but the novel is likely to be incendiary, as with Michael Moore's documentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Flush with the headline-generating success of "My Life," by Bill Clinton, Alfred A. Knopf is planning to publish Baker's work Aug. 24, on the eve of the Republican National Convention. "Checkpoint" is 115 pages long and will sell for $18.
In the book, two men -- Ben and Jay -- meet at the fictional Adele Hotel and Suites in Washington. It is midday. They eat a bag of bagel chips and order lunch from room service. They talk into a tape recorder.
Ben: Obviously you have something on your mind.
Jay: That's true.
Ben: You could begin with that.
Jay: Okay. Uh. I'm going to -- okay. I'll just say it. Um.
Ben: What is it?
Jay: I'm going to assassinate the president.
Though it is against the law to threaten the president in real life, a work of fiction is usually protected by the First Amendment.
via Arthur Magazine (blog)
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