Jack, be nimble

Pine mountain college treasures its traditions and close ties to the local community. when new president jason malmuth trashes these in efforts to change what he considers the overly rustic image of the college, the quirky faculty of the appalachian studies program defend themselves and their program, the chief objects of mammoth's ire. mysterious attempts to murder folklore professor roger duvant and the bizarre behavior of appalachian literature professor john jaykyll hamper faculty efforts to combat the arrogant, greedy malmuth and his venal subordinate, provost jeremy bottleby. duvant receives aid from an unlikely source, dean hiram grudger's wife rauncibelle, who seduces duvant but helps him and his friends combat malmuth and the determined but inept assassin seeking roger's life. jaykyll's problems, rooted in his childhood and his youthful sexual experiences, disappear as he responds to therapy and joins the embattled faculty in their serious but often comic struggle with malmuth.