Prisoner of X: Twenty Years in the Hole at Hustler Magazine

Prisoner of X: 20 Years in the Hole at Hustler Magazine is a savagely funny odyssey through the bizarro world of Larry Flynt's cracker-rich X-rated empire.

During his tenure in the Hustler trenches, punk-rock dropout Allan MacDonell ascends from entry-level comma-catcher to editorial overlord of the unseemly offerings at Larry Flynt Publications. Here's the inside story of running America's most influential porn domain.

A professional career of evaluating countless skin photos, taking XXX field trips, mastering fully erect film criticism and enduring creepy interoffice schemers suddenly launches MacDonell into national politics when Larry Flynt opens his wallet to impact the impeachment proceedings against President William Jefferson Clinton. MacDonell reveals the backside of his prominent role in tricking right-wing Speaker-elect Bob Livingston into resigning from Congress.

Prisoner of X is a wildly entertaining memoir about life climbing the bent and fearsome masthead of an infamous magazine, and the bittersweet reward of publicly crossing its hillbilly Caesar.

"Allan MacDonell's account of his twenty years spent working for Larry Flynt is prime Feral House material: blunt, salacious and to-the-point. Opening with MacDonnel's curtain call, the nervous and barbed attack he delivered at Flynt's roast, MacDonell recounts his tenure working for one of America's most notorious citizens with candor and a biting wit. As a young punk rocker with a knack for writing but without a high school diploma, MacDonell managed to land an entry-level job in the editorial department of Hustler. Working in an environment that embodied the hedonism of the 1980s, MacDonell managed to excel in an office staffed by nepotistic hires, degenerates and the occasional competent worker, all nervously toiling under the moody shadow of Flynt. >From bit parts in pornos to soliciting evidence of politicians' improprieties, MacDonell tells his story without flinching. Much like Hustler itself, this is a vulgar, sometimes shocking read, but it provides an excellent foil for Flynt's self-penned memoirs." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Hours of guilty pleasure that pass like seconds....Indulge before the restraining orders pull this great book off store shelves." Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, Choke, and Haunted

"Entertaining....As former Hustler editor MacDonell's memoir makes clear, the porn mag exists in its own alternate universe." Spin

Prisoner of Xis a savagely funny odyssey through the bizarro world of Larry Flynt's cracker-rich X-rated empire.

During his tenure in the Hustler trenches, punk-rock dropout Allan MacDonell ascends from entry-level comma-catcher to editorial overlord of all unseemly offerings at Larry Flynt Publications. Here's the inside story of running America's most influential porn domain.

A professional career of evaluating countless skin photos, taking XXX field trips and mastering "fully erect" film criticism suddenly launches MacDonell into national politics when Larry Flynt opens his wallet to impact the impeachment proceedings against President William Jefferson Clinton. MacDonell reveals the backside of his prominent role in tricking right-wing Speaker-elect Bob Livingston into resigning from Congress.

Prisoner of Xis a wildly entertaining memoir about life climbing the bent masthead of the world's most infamous magazine, and the bittersweet reward of publicly crossing its hillbilly Caesar.

"Allan was my boss at Hustler. Under Allan's tutelage Hustler became a true subversive agent in American culture. The public heard a great deal about Larry Flynt, but inside Flynt's magazine empire we knew the true mastermind of the madness was Allan MacDonell. Prisoner of Xis 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

Aside from being the most prolific writer in the history of Larry Flynt Publications, Allan MacDonell contributed to the archetypal punk magazine Slash and the underground anthology Apocalypse Culture. Freelance pieces have appeared in venues as diverse as Gambling Times magazine, MrSkin.com and the L.A. Weekly. Mr. MacDonell lives in California's Hollywood Hills with two dogs, his wife Theresa, and a clear conscience.