American Alt: A True Story of Madness and Friendship in a Fractured Country

A glimpse into the mind of an American conspiracy theorist and the schizophrenia, trauma, and disinformation that drove him to the brink

On the eve of January 6, 2021, Michael Dodd and his three friends sat in a stolen vehicle on the grounds of the Washington State capitol armed to the teeth and ready to kidnap Governor Jay Inslee. Only there weren't actually three others in the car; Dodd was alone.

Months later, the violent plan thwarted, Dodd was a patient in a psychiatric hospital, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. His memory of that fateful day was spotty, fractured by the different personality states he now knew were affecting his reality. Skeptical of a state mental-health system but eager to figure out how his world had turned upside down, he reached out to his longtime friend, the author Chris Lockhart, for help.

American Alt is the odyssey of two friends trying to piece together the fragments of Dodd's shattered memory and uncover the truth of what pushed him to the edge. Set against the beautiful but economically broken region where both men rambled in their youth, Lockhart delivers a suspenseful, profoundly moving story of discovery and affirmation.