"Crimp's powerful insight is the backbone of his autobiographical book, Before Pictures, which blends conversational, gossipy storytelling with an encyclopedic personal history of cultural anecdotes. . . . Under the scope of Crimp's vivid reflections, the crackling energy of the era feels fresh, as does his youthful negotiation of the queer culture and the progression of his professional career."
— Afterimage
"Crimp’s is a memoir of looking and feeling self-conscious; seeing and being seen. Having chosen his experiences of cruising the crumbling New York of the 1970s as a structuring principle for his memoir, Crimp has written a book that is both partial in its approach and pleasurable to read."
— The Burlington Magazine
"Douglas Crimp is a pivotal figure in contemporary art and AIDS cultural activism. Before Pictures fills in his back story. Using his own experiences as a primary source, he becomes a living archive, and history benefits from his erudite and compelling storytelling."
— The Gay & Lesbian Review
"Douglas Crimp is an important figure in the development of postmodern art theory. . . . Crimp's writing style is fluid and holds one's attention."
— New Art Examiner
"Crimp is best known today as the curator of the exhibition Pictures (1977), which helped to put postmodernism on the mp, showcasing artists such as Sherrie Levine, Jack Goldstein and Robert Longo. Before Pictures is a memoir of his ten preceding years. Graced with opulent photographs that form a close dialogue with the text, it is impressively quirky."
— Times Literary Supplement
"Mourning, protest and dancing are intergenerational forms of knowledge transmission interred there; they are how we learn and relearn to be queer. This is what Douglas’s work made possible for me, and it is this future work we must continue as we mourn his loss."
— Frieze