From an interview conducted by Stephen Braitman with Allen Ginsberg and his father, Louis Ginsberg, in 1974. The interview is included in First Thought, a collection of conversations with Allen Ginsberg that was edited by Michael Schumacher and published this month by the University of Minnesota Press. Louis Ginsberg was a poet and often participated in joint readings with his son.

stephen braitman: How do you feel about these father-and-son readings?

allen ginsberg: It’s just the inevitable mess of reality. Whatever harmony there is, is real; whatever difference…