The poetic life and times of Big Bubba, equal parts charismatic trickster and tent revival preacher.

This propulsive narrative poem tells the extended story of the popular born-again televangelist Ray Bob Elray—better known to all his fans as Big Bubba—his twin sons, Nick and Jesse, and his niece and adopted daughter, Donna.

The comic tragedy of Big Bubba’s family begins to unfold when he is interviewed by an old friend, country radio disc jockey Charlie Printwhistle. Bubba has come to Waco, Texas, to preach a revival, but soon reveals to Charlie much about his complicated relationship with his family, his ambitions for the ministry, his faith healing, and his most recent venture with Pure Products of America, Inc., which produces and endorses anything “pure,” from Bibles to jelly preserves—for a “whopper” of a fee, of course.

Structured as a verse play of two acts composed of three scenes each, Pure Products of America, Inc., follows the unwinding of Bubba’s legacy as his heirs fall out and his already slippery relationship with religion is tested by genuine grief. Along the way, master poet John Bricuth treats readers to a sly, sarcastic—and sometimes deeply moving—look at storytelling, old-time religion, and the American way.

John Bricuth is the pen name of John T. Irwin, author of Let Me Just Say This About That and As Long As It’s Big. He is the Decker Professor in the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University.