A Room in Dodge City Vol. 2
A Room in Dodge City Vol. 2 by David Rice, graduate ’19, Creative Writing at The New School
Alternating Current, 2020
A Room in Dodge City Vol. 1 charted a nameless drifter’s arrival in a bizarre Western town that might encompass all of reality. Now, Vol. 2 considers what happens when drifting on is no longer an option, and the open road closes in. Focusing on the mysterious workings of The Dodge City Film Industry, and the personality cult surrounding Blut Branson, its most legendary director, Vol. 2 asks hard questions about the nature of art, fame, competition and, ultimately, the ongoing struggle to be born. It’s a bildungsroman couched in a tale of folk horror and cosmic paranoia, as well as an elegy for the declining art of cinema.