From his conversation with the conservative William F. Buckley on PBS to his testimony at the Chicago Seven trial to his passionate riffs on Cezanne, Blake, Whitman, and Pound, the interviews collected in Spontaneous Mind, chronologically arranged and in some cases previously unpublished, were conducted throughout Allen Ginsberg's long career. From the late 1950s to the mid-1990s, Ginsberg speaks frankly about his life, his work, and major events, allowing us to hear once again the impassioned voice of one of the most influential literary and cultural figures of our time.

Allen Ginsberg was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters as well as a winner of the National Book Award for Poetry. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1926, and died in New York City in 1997.

"Readers of this collection may find that they are no longer the same after having encountered [Ginsberg] in its pages." — New York Times Book Review

"A valuable and extensive collection, intelligently edited." — Kirkus (Starred Review)

"Spontaneous Mind brings readers closer to Ginsberg the man ... both compelling and entertaining to read." — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

" [A] comprehensive, essential volume ..[the] interviews are like keys to the many rooms of [Ginsberg's] expansive consciousness." — Michael Schumacher, author of Dharma Lion

"SPONTANEOUS MIND is an uncensored perspective on Allen Ginsberg's life, work and the events of his time." — Charleston Post & Courier

"Ginsberg's verbal dexterity is such that he never gets hemmed in by people who would rather have him easily pegged." — Creative Loafing