Benjamin Goluboff, Professor of English, has released a new book titled Moe Asch: A Speculative Life in Verse and Other Poems. The collection features poems inspired by the life of American record executive Moe Asch, as well as a series on an obscure American portraitist and an assortment called “Chicago, Arts and Letters, Other.”
Moe Asch (1905–1986) was known for his work in the recording industry and as the son of Yiddish novelist Sholem Asch. Goluboff described his subject as complex: “He was not a good person,” Goluboff said. “He cheated on his wife, famously cheated his artists out of royalties, and was complicit in white people appropriating the culture of people of color. He was prone to crazy fits of anger.”
The poems use both humor and reflection to examine aspects of Asch’s identity and experiences. The collection presents moments from Asch’s life such as parties and recording sessions, with appearances by figures like Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Gwendolyn Brooks, among others.
One poem imagines Moe Asch troubled by never having recorded Bob Dylan: “Bob Dylan is an Area of Darkness in the Mind of Moe Asch, 1970s.” Another piece addresses issues of language and identity when recording Nathan “Prince” Nazaroff performing “Tumbalalaika” without knowing Yiddish.
Jeffery Renard Allen, author of Fat Time and Other Stories, commented on the book: “Witty and weird, Benjamin Goluboff’s Moe Asch poems are a delight. With lean precision, Goluboff brings alive a seminal figure in the recording industry. History speaks. The music lives.”
The second part focuses on George Peter Alexander Healy (1813–1894), whose paintings were largely lost in the Great Chicago Fire. The final section includes poems about Chicago and reflects Goluboff’s experiences as a professor.
Goluboff expressed his hopes for readers: “I hope readers find it a delight.”
Moe Asch: A Speculative Life in Verse and Other Poems was published by Kelsay Books on November 17, 2025.
