Prisoner of X: 20 Years in the Hole at Hustler Magazine

I found the book hilarious, entertaining, educational, and a real gas to read. Hustler magazine apparently didn't feel the same because they have labelled McDonnell the "A**hole of the Month" in their current issue (pretty ironic considering that McDonnell wrote that column for over a decade!). They accuse him of being a drug addict who drove the magazine into the ground (even though he explicitly explains in the book that he stopped all drug and alcohol abuse following a near-fatal DUI incident). If you've read even one issue of Hustler, you'll enjoy the heck out of this book. The stories of grotesque celebrity videos, Larry Flint's shockingly explicit activities and racist sense of humor, and having to put up with arrogant sleazeball child rapist Dwaine Tinsley (of "Chester the Molester" fame) will keep your eyes glued to the page. In short, another winner for Feral House.

One of my favorite books of all time. A life inside Hustler? What could go wrong? MacDonell holds no punches about his world of being inside Hustler and working within the smut world. I loved it. It's a great autobiography of the literary life of adult magazines, and a life that most people will not end up seeing for the most part. It's a fast read, but it holds your attention from the very first page. I'd like to hear a follow up to this one, it's that good.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wish that once in a while you had actually read some of the articles. This book is as hilarious as Hustler often was during Allan's tenure. A common misconception about this book is that it is about Larry Flynt. This book is not about Larry Flynt--it is about Allan MacDonell. If you want to learn more about Larry Flynt, you should probably visit his website. If you want to learn more about what it is REALLY like to oversee the day-to-day operations of America's most notorious stroke rag--penile scabs and all--then this is the book for you! My only complaint about Prisoner of X is that Allan has not yet recorded an audio-book version, but that's coming up next, right Mr. MacDonell?

This is an interesting book by a writer who worked his way up the ranks at Hustler magazine for twenty years. He's brutally honest about the inner workings of the magazine including his descriptions of the pedophile Dwaine Tinsley and the sociopathic Larry Flynt, as well as about his own moral and social failings. This is good reading for anyone interested in the history of the magazine or in learning about what it was like working inside the porn magazine industry during the latter part of the Twentieth Century. As to be expected it's sexually explicit so if that bothers you, you might want to skip this one. The sexual descriptions were not gratuitous and I felt they were necessary for the honest story-telling this book provides.

this book illuminates what it's like to be working a job that you both love and hate at the same time. Over and over again McDonnell finds himself in delicate situations dealing with marginal characters that make him question his on sanity.I worked a few years in this business myself and this book is not only an accurate description of the day to day of the porn business, it's a an accurate description of the conflicted but aware mindset that goes along with working in any questionable business.

Granted the events that are shared in this book are the view of one person. However the writing is entertaining and informative. LFP's continues on the tradition of having the wrong people in the right roles, and it's fascinating to find out how a porn empire is mis-managed on a constant basis.Well worth the purchase if you want to invest finding out more about how your favourite magazine is run.

Great book, very eye opening. At times you will literally laugh out loud and others you will sweat as the writer probably did when he experienced that situation for real. I can't say I would read it twice but I enjoyed the first go round.

An interesting read, it had some seriously funny moments, kind of raw humor but that's to be expected. I liked it but didn't think it really went anywhere, not very challenging but some interesting insight into some twisted real-life characters.