Jim Boden is the quintessence of the good-old-boy system in action, particularly at the college level of administration. Rising far above himself in his station in life, he personifies ineptitude and mediocrity. The story follows his rise and fall as a college administrator in a small, satellite campus of a community college, his bureaucratic style being his own downfall. The reader is left with bewilderment at how people of his ilk can rise to such levels with so little ability, both administratively and in terms of people skills.