The Ohio native is the author of Ghetto Celebrity (Crown, 2003), a non-fiction best-seller, among true books tricked-out with Warning labels.

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC observed that in this memoir, "Donnell Alexander has probably given us a preview of how most American writing will read twenty years hence." Ghetto Celebrity was named one of the best books of 2003 by the San Francisco Chronicle and Africana.com (now AOL Black Voices).

Wearing critic and reporter hats, Alexander has written about popular culture for publications as diverse as Vibe, Utne Reader, and the Los Angeles Times. His style helped set the tone at ESPN The Magazine, where he was a member of the original writing staff. Alexander's 1997 essay "Cool Like Me: Are Black People Cooler than White People>"--the final cover story of Dave Eggers' Might Magazine--is a staple of university curricula and has been widely anthologized.

Having graduated from editing New Angeles, the journalist now consults for that monthly magazine. He also blogs twice-weekly on sports and fitness for Moli.com. The 2006 edition of Bronx Biannual (Akashic Books) features part of Alexander's forthcoming novel, Rhyme Scheme.