Ghetto Celebrity

Donnell Alexander grew up sideways in the cramped spaces of Sandusky, Ohio, the son of a devout mother and a dad named Delbert who was a protean genius who jacked a thousand identities-from pimpin' them hoes to preaching the gospel-but skipped out on fatherhood when his son was in diapers. Donnell unwittingly replayed Delbert's tragedy as farce until he finally wrote himself his own story, becoming a star of California's freewheeling alternative press, spreading the gospels of punk and hip-hop in print. After finding a career and starting a family of his own, Donnell was drawn to reconnect with the vanished Delbert, and when he did, things fell apart, as they tend to in the grip of ghetto celebrity.