Darrell B Cobb

Without the Bands Darrell B Cobb

Fluoride salesman John Robert "Bob" Dobbs is attending a Teflon convention in Milan, Italy when he gets word that his home back in Encino, California has been burned to the ground, killing his wife, Connie, and his daughter, Carrie Lynn. Bob's grasp on reality is already tenuous before the tragedy. He frequently time-travels, and is being held prisoner on an alien planet as a zoological specimen in a parallel dimension. In one of his previous lives, J. R. Dobbs existed as a fictional narrative spun by one Kilgore Trout. Now set adrift without a family, Dobbs returns to his former home and pitches a tent on the property. His neighbors believe that grief has driven Bob to insanity. But Bob doesn't feel insane, grief or much of anything for that matter. He's just putting one foot in front of the other and taking it one day at a time. While sleeping under the stars. A local human interest reporter, Cybil Watson, is ordered by her station manager to get the real story behind Bob Dobbs's reappearance. Within hours, a surge builds for Dobbs's plight. Sympathy and anger towards authority makes Bob the biggest story in L. A. Before nightfall, there are dozens of supporters and revelers joining Bob on his vacant property. In the words of Bob's neighbor, Greg Davis, it's like Woodstock without the bands. Bob's other neighbor, Roger Bemis, is hiding his own insidious secrets that cannot escape the bright light of exposure. His daughter, Valerie, may have accidentally set the fire that burned down Bob's home. And Roger's son, Brendan, is convinced that Bob is a famous prophet in the counter-cultural Church of the SubGenius, an offbeat religious satire group that entertains thousands of believers all over the world. Add to the mix a free-spirit named September Porsche - drawn to the growing circus - who will enter and change Roger's life like he cannot even imagine. And, as the circus gains traction, Bob's new-found devotees come out of the closet and also begin showing up on Bob's property. As the crowd surges, J. R. Dobbs is thrust into media celebrity status. By day two, there are thousands of people crowded into a half-acre of empty Encino real estate - campers of all shapes, colors, beliefs and purposes. And as the numbers increase, so does the Southland's interest in the Bob Dobbs story. The story feeds upon itself. Soon, Encino is taken over by tens of thousands of people, all seeking something tangible and transcendent. As a fluoride salesman, Bob Dobbs's life is meaningless and dull. As the center of a strange and twisted intergalactic legend, Bob Dobbs becomes a star.