Praise for the Book
"Allan MacDonell's account of his twenty years spent working for Larry Flynt is prime Feral House material: blunt, salacious and to-the-point... MacDonell recounts his tenure working for one of America's most notorious citizens with candor and a biting wit... From bit parts in pornos to soliciting evidence of politicians' improprieties, MacDonell tells his story without flinching."
— Publishers Weekly
"In Prisoner of X (Feral House), former Hustler 'editorial overlord' Allan MacDonell gets vocal about his 20-year tenure as foil to hillbilly horndog Larry Flynt."
— Vanity Fair
"You expect shocking stories from a guy who spent 20 years working for Larry Flynt. And this memoir doesn't disappoint. MacDonell recounts his career at Hustler -- 'not the vilest magazine on the market, but we tried' -- from proofreader to editor (until Flynt fired him in 2002)... The real shocker: Prisoner is surprisingly well written. MacDonell's prose is so perky and witty, it's a shame Flynt didn't fire him years ago so he'd have a real career to write about."
— Entertainment Weekly
“A luridly entertaining memoir… MacDonell strives to balance the sleaze with dry wit and genteel wordplay — and often strikes gold.”
— Rolling Stone
"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
"Allan MacDonell worked for almost 20 years at Larry Flynt Publications ... naturally, [he] has stories to tell, which he does with caustic wit in his memoir, Prisoner of X."
— Los Angeles Times
"FOUR STARS (Highest Rating)."
— CBS Radio
"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, and Haunted
"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
"The first must-read book on porn."
— Luke Ford, author of A History of X: 100 Years of Sex in Film and XXX-Communicated
“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.”
— Black Book
“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
Press
International Herald Tribune
May 8, 2006
Working for the empire of slime
NY Post - Page Six
April 17, 2006
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NY Daily News - Daily Dish
March 1, 2006
Download PDF of article - 2 MB PDF
Denver Post - Entertainment
April 18, 2006
Download PDF of article - 2 MB PDF
The Times Picayune - On The Hill
April 23, 2006
Order Prisoner of X from Feral House
