“Hunter often said Harrell was the best copy editor he’d ever worked with” (William McKeen, Outlaw Journalist). But what was the rest of the story?

Keep This Quiet! captures the fear and loathing, charm and romance of Hunter in the late Sixties–along with tales of two other underground authors. Now, for the first time, with the permission of his Estate, it reveals stories, memories, and previously unpublished letters by Hunter, before and after he worked with Margaret on Hell’s Angels. Included are genuine, funny—or distraught—letters he sent Margaret. Also, priceless reminiscences of some of Hunter’s oldest friends: William Kennedy, David Pierce, Rosalie Sorrels, Oscar Acosta, and editor Jim Silberman—covered in no other account.

But woven into the mix—and into Margaret;s colorful life—saved from the wreckage and trash bin of time, is a missing chapter in the life of two other outlaw writers: New York City poet genius Milton Klonsky and flamboyant Belgian poet Jan Mensaert.

Cover image: Unknown
Cover design: Gaelyn Larrick

Keep This Quiet! My Relationship with Hunter S. Thompson, Milton Klonsky, and Jan Mensaert

Reviews

“Margaret Harrell’s Keep This Quiet offers an illuminating look at Hunter S. Thompson in full throttle trying to make it as a Top Notch prose-stylist. Harrell fills in many important biographical gaps. A welcome addition to what is becoming the HST cottage industry. Read it.”—Douglas Brinkley, editor of The Proud Highway and Fear and Loathing in America.

“The reader comes to feel an affinity with the trio of writers in their attempts to achieve their iconoclastic visions of success, glimpsing them as individuals beyond their work, seeing how they think.”—Kirkus Indie Reviews

“If you want to know what the Sixties were really like, read Keep This Quiet: A Memoir. It’s all there: the openness, the hope, the ideals, the risks, the highs and lows, the travel, the love.”—Robert Morgan, author of Gap Creek and Terroir

“This book is a joy to read, particularly for anyone that has that urge to express themselves through the creative arts in all their forms. In terms of its importance to the Hunter S. Thompson world I would have to say that there are not many other books out there that have the same intimate understanding of the man behind the myth.”—Dr. Rory Feehan, PhD, owner of http://totallygonzo.org

“Three men, embodiments of three different dimensions of the late 1960’s Zeitgeist—wispy dissolution, language-charged intellect, and Gonzo persona-building—are brought together by Harrell to invoke a world of passion and commitment.”–W. C Bamberger, Rain Taxi Review

“Keep This Quiet! is a moving read and much recommended to any literary studies or memoir collection.”—Midwest Book Review

“Keep This Quiet? Not likely. Margaret Harrell’s Keep This Quiet! is a feast for the Gonzo soul.”—Martin Flynn, owner of http://hstbooks.org”

”Harrell is an excellent storyteller, in a story that is never about the narrative, but about the real people. Every person in the book is bold and well defined.”—San Francisco Book Review

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