Patrick deWitt’s novel *Dodge City* explores the turbulent era of late-1960s America through the journey of Lee Clarke, a young man facing the prospect of being drafted into the Vietnam War. Among an estimated 27 million Americans eligible for the draft at the time, fewer than 10 percent were actually enlisted. Many evaded service through health exemptions, college deferments, conscientious objection, or, as many as 100,000 did, by fleeing the country. Lee Clarke is not one of the fortunate who avoided a draft notice altogether.

The story begins six weeks after Clarke was expelled from the University of California for assaulting another student. When he appeals to his draft officer against serving, his objections are dismissed, and he is ordered to report for a physical examination within two weeks. In response, Clarke breaks up with his girlfriend, packs a suitcase, and embarks on a drug-fueled road trip toward Canada, taking a circuitous route from the West to the East Coast.

Throughout his travels, Clarke reconnects with members of his fractured family, whose personal struggles mirror the wider social unrest of the period. He first visits his father, a dogcatcher living in the driveway of their former home in Concrete, Washington, while the house itself has become occupied by dogs. He then meets his mother, who has resided in Montana since her divorce; his brother in Duluth, Minnesota, who copes with a broken heart by making fake bomb threats; and finally his twin sister, a nurse in New York City dealing with her own romantic difficulties.

While *Dodge City* covers a broad geographic and emotional landscape, it offers only sparse, impressionistic details of the 1960s American setting. Much of the narrative unfolds through extended dialogue rather than immersive description, a stylistic choice reminiscent of deWitt’s earlier work, *The Sisters Brothers*. The novel relies on brief but evocative details—such as a “retching face” drawn around Clarke’s letterbox to dramatize the arrival of his draft notice, or a “still soft” piece of bubblegum attaching his girlfriend’s farewell note—to convey emotional undercurrents without deep psychological exposition.

DeWitt’s portrayal of interactions often contains a dry, deadpan humor that reflects the confusion and absurdity of the era, drawing comparisons with Joseph Heller’s *Catch-22*. For example, an exchange between Clarke and his draft officer bluntly acknowledges the young man’s reluctance to fight, met only with quiet understanding.

The inspiration for *Dodge City* came after Donald Trump’s first presidential election, when deWitt, whose own father was a draft dodger, began contemplating the circumstances under which it might be justifiable to abandon one’s country. Although deWitt himself chose to remain in the United States, the question of national loyalty and individual conscience remains central to the novel.

Crucially, the book does not take a definitive stance on the morality of draft evasion. Through the conflicting views of Clarke and his father, a World War II veteran who insists "we don’t get to pick our wars," the novel encourages readers to wrestle with complex questions rather than offering clear answers, leaving the interpretation open-ended.