Crack the covers of Prisoner of X: 20 Years in the Hole at Hustler Magazine and see how one man's dream job can be another man's existential nightmare. The fascinating twist is that both those men are the same guy.
Aside from being the most prolific writer in the history of Larry Flynt Publications, Allan MacDonell provided a defining voice to L.A.'s archetypal punk magazine, Slash.
He has contributed to such diverse venues as Gambling Times, the L.A. Weekly and the underground anthology, Apocalypse Culture . Mr. MacDonell lives in California's Hollywood Hills with two dogs, a wife and a clear conscience.
Read excerpts from Prisoner of X .
Buy Prisoner of X
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" Prisoner of X is hours of guilty pleasure that pass like seconds. Here's the unsafe, hook-up sex of memoir. You'll need to indulge before the restraining orders pull this great book off of store shelves."
--- Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, Choke, Haunted...
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" Prisoner of X is destined to become an American classic, R. Crumb crossed with William S. Burroughs and the satiric outrage of Hunter S. Thompson."
--- Evan Wright, author of Generation Kill, winner of the PEN and National Magazine Awards and former entertainment editor Hustler Magazine
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"In Prisoner of X former Hustler 'editorial overlord' Allan MacDonell gets vocal about his 20-year tenure as foil to hillbilly horndog Larry Flynt."
--- Vanity Fair
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"A luridly entertaining memoir.... MacDonell strives to balance the sleaze with dry wit and genteel wordplay -- and often strikes gold."
--- Rolling Stone
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"You expect shocking stories from a guy who spent 20 years working for Larry Flynt. And this memoir doesn't disappoint. But the real shocker: Prisoner is surprisingly well written."
--- Entertainment Weekly
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"Rolling, entangling and penetrating.... A wickedly clever accounting.... Prisoner of X is one dirty purchase you won't mind paying for."
--- Juxtapoz
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"Nothing short of memoir bliss. MacDonell's one hell of a storyteller. His scene setting is vivid, his story consistently clever, and his characters are fully developed and detailed with the care of a skilled Hollywood screenwriter."
--- Seattle Weekly
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"The scabrous, cleverly funny new memoir Prisoner of X chronicles author Allan MacDonell's rise to creative director at Larry Flynt Publications. MacDonell lays the whack-off industry bare.... All that's missing is a scratch-and-sniff centerfold."
--- BlackBook
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"Few books open a chapter with 'Visions of anus were plaguing me,' and mean it literally. But as former Hustler editor MacDonell's memoir makes clear, the porn mag exists in its own alternate universe."
--- Spin
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"Blunt, salacious and to-the-point.... MacDonell tells his story without flinching."
--- Publishers Weekly
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"Yes, it was a dirty job, but he just had to do it.... [MacDonell] spearheaded Mr. Flynt's 1998 campaign to expose hypocrisy among Republican congressmen ... and eventually brought about the downfall of Robert L. Livingston, speaker-elect of the House of Representatives."
--- New York Times
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"Naturally, MacDonell has stories to tell, which he does with caustic wit in his memoir Prisoner of X ."
--- Los Angeles Times
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"Best thing I have read in ages. [MacDonell] is a wry commentator on sex, porn, Los Angeles, male/female relationships (at their most extreme).... His sense of the absurd is nearly musical."
--- Disinformation.com
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"FOUR STARS (Highest Rating)."
--- CBS Radio
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"The first must-read book on porn."
--- Luke Ford, author of A History of X: 100 Years of Sex in Film and XXX-Communicated
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