The turnaround began when Taylor, Lobdell’s first son, was born. A month later, Lobdell married Taylor’s mother, at a wedding chapel in Las Vegas (baby steps toward Jesus, one might say); afterward, they watched Tony Orlando and Dawn sing in a half-empty casino concert hall. Lobdell adored his son, and like many new fathers he resolved to grow up fast. But he was skeptical that his marriage, born of imperfect circumstances, would last, and in most respects he still felt pretty desperate. Soon after his wedding, “on an especially low day,” Lobdell confessed his pain to a good friend. “You need God,” the friend told him. “That’s what’s missing in your life.”
what's excellent here is the inclusion, apparently utterly random, of tony orlando and dawn. obviously, in the interpretation of the reviewer, tony orlando and dawn was the last straw, the very acme of despair. at least it wasn't billy joel; then he'd have hung himself there and then. or i guess you could take this the other way: lodbell, gazing rapt upon the luminous countenance of tony orlando, realized that a universe with tony orlando in it could only be the product of an all-powerful and perfectly-good being. to grasp the true spiritual significance of tony orlando, i guess i'd have to read lodbell's book. but after absorbing oppenheimer's review, i've decided that reading is futile.
