. . . a permanent addition to the great histories of the civil rights era.—Publishers Weekly

. . . sure to . . . [be] among the most important books in the gay canon.—The Villager

Highly readable and emotionally charged . . . takes the reader on a breathtaking ride . . . . a
terrific piece of nonfiction . . . satisfying, illuminating—The Advocate

. . . will snag a spot in my Top Ten books list for the year, and it may very well top that list.
—Outlands

This was a riot heard round the world, and Carter has done it proud.—Jonathan Ned Katz, author of Love Stories: Sex Between Men Before Homosexuality

Carter . . . writes very much like, well, not God perhaps, but Moses certainly . . . ought to be in the library of every literate queer who likes an argument.—novelist James McCourt, in Gay City News

Riveting . . . masterfully recreates the hours before and during the riots.—The Boston Globe

. . . superb . . . a beautifully written, suspenseful narrative . . . a book that everyone interested in civil rights and our community's history should read.—Bay Area Reporter

remarkable . . . enlightening—New York Newsday

reads more like a novel than a research document.—The Texas Triangle

Carter has done what no other previous account of the Stonewall Riots did—he got it right. . . .
excels at painting a clear picture . . . a must read for any member of the LGBT
community.—QVegas

gripping. . . . Highly recommended.—Library Journal

Bring[s] life even to passages about the actual bricks and mortar of the Stonewall Inn.—Chicago Free Press

Eloquent.—Kirkus Reviews

a gripping, page-turning read . . . exhilarating . . . keenly informative . . . authoritative.—Bay Windows

wonderful . . . riveting, fast-paced reading . . . [with] the most unlikely heroes one is likely to encounter.—Michael Schumacher, author of Dharma Lion and other biographies, in Shepherd-Express

fascinating . . . Carter . . . paints the picture and he takes you there. . . . an important addition to the history books—all history books. . . . should be required reading.—White Crane Journal

Carter's carefully researched, well-crafted writing . . . dispels long-held myths.—Booklist

reads likes the script for an inordinately engaging documentary movie. . . . Read it and be inspired.—Baltimore Gay Press

riveting . . . a must-have addition to anyone who is interested in the history of gay civil rights.—The Washington Blade

A gripping, hour-by-hour reconstruction. . . . long overdue but well worth the wait.—Bookmarks

the first legitimate historical account of the Stonewall riots . . . valuable.—Gay Today

manages to both entertain and inform.—Genre

gripping . . . meticulously researched . . . —Time Out New York

highly readable. . . fascinating . . . —Out

A major work of narrative history . . . —The Weekly News

commendably thorough.—Gay and Lesbian Humanist

May just turn out to be the definitive history of the early gay movement.—Calamus Bookstore, Boston

Thanks to David Carter, we now know a great deal more about what [Stonewall] means.—The Capital Times (Madison, WI)

[A] gripping, moving account.—Frontiers

buy it now

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critical praise for Spontaneous Mind

"Allen Ginsberg’s uniquely frank and vivid voice, silent now these past four years, seems to sound again in [Spontaneous Mind’s] deftly edited pages. . . . Ginsberg’s compositional method, the moment-by-moment transcription of thoughts and images as they passed across his mind, . . . helps explain why the interviews collected here are so great. Ginsberg talking is like Charlie Parker taking his saxophone out for a spin at the far reaches of harmony. . . . There may no longer be anyone in America like Allen Ginsberg, but America is not the same for his having been here. Readers of this collection may also find that they are no longer the same after having encountered him in its pages.” New York Times Book Review

“Taken together, these interviews read like an immense jazz oratorio, with rising and falling riffs on prosody, politics, sex, hallucinogens, ecology, jazz, psychoanalysis, Buddhism and [Ginsberg’s] favorite authors. . . . Carter captures the best of his witty, generous chatter here.” Publishers Weekly

“[A] thoroughly engaging read, stuffed from cover to cover with the kind of euphoric epiphanies that characterized the Beat writers' collective ambition. . . . ‘Spontaneous Mind’ is aptly titled: It's the streaming audio of a fertile intellect, set down in print for posterity.”
San Francisco Chronicle

“The best introduction to date to [Ginsberg’s] intentions as artist and public figure.”
Booklist, starred review

“The early interviews . . . have that loose-fitting, freefalling energy that makes the great poems of the 1950s such a revelation. . . . a book that can be profitably mined for many gems. . . . A valuable and extensive collection, intelligently edited.”
Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“In this comprehensive, essential volume, Ginsberg offers no less than a series of literary and cultural history lessons, filtered through a poet's sensibilities and experiences.”
Michael Schumacher, author of Dharma Lion

“[T]he sense of immediacy and urgency comes through as if Ginsberg were speaking the words today. All his important interviews are present and editor David Carter should be commended for making selections that . . . catch Ginsberg in top form at significant moments of his life. . . . Ginsberg comes across in this book as warm, engaging, persuasive, provocative, funny, compassionate, contentious and sincere. . . . we get replays of some of his better moments, served up as both compelling and entertaining reading.”
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

“Thanks to both Ginsberg’s intensity and wit, and to Carter’s careful work . . . these interviews . . . read like art. . . . enchanting.” The Times Union

“A superb selection of conversations with one of the 20th century’s most original and fearless thinkers.” The Advocate

“There are many biographies of Allen Ginsberg, from full-length studies . . . to memoirs and journals by Ginsberg himself. None of them are as interesting or as revealing as Spontaneous Mind.” Gay Today

“Ginsberg died . . . four years ago, but the range of his elastic consciousness has snapped back to life in Spontaneous Mind, a vibrant collection.”
The American Prospect

“Ginsberg’s Spontaneous Mind, a collection of all his interviews, is great."
Ethan Hawke

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allen ginsberg official site