Gunther Temple is fretting about the empty library at the Texas Museum of Natural History, where he is the sole librarian as budget cuts and the internet whittle away at his workplace. His reverie is interrupted by the entrance of a lovely middle aged woman, Piper Curry, who wants to review the archives of Philo Hartwig, a formerly eminent biologist at the museum ten years earlier who has become a media-savvy evangelist advocating for creationism and against gene therapy. Curry is in search of a purported Hartwig diary written during the period when he changed from scientist to blowhard. Temple is entranced by Curry, who happens to be a “midlet,” his fantasy of older women who “have naturally kept their appearance appealing and, more important, have grown into a self-assured, frisky, good-humored maturity.” A lively exchange occurs in the library and Temple offers to do some tedious research for her. She agrees, setting off much happy angst in the librarian.

Temple and his slacker friend end up on a gonzo road trip to infiltrate Hartwig's headquarters, leading to a vindictive reprisal by Hartwig and his bizarre minions.

Will Temple save evolution? Will he find true love? Will his bowling improve?